Stone of Fire
by Tigerman
Summary: They say it only take one well placed stone to change the course of a river. What if a villager, at the start, labelled Naruto as a hero instead of a demon? Fate changed direction in a different, stronger course.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other characters. Haku's rabbit belong to my girlfriend though.**

**On with the story!**

**'though'**

**"speaking"**

* * *

"La…la-la… Little kid can touch the sky…little hands can stroke the stars…laaaaaa… the little angel can fly without leaving his mom's arms…"

On a rooftop, just before sunset, a mother was singing to her baby. He was still newborn, being less than two days old. This very youth would be his end. Just hours ago, a giant beast was sighted north of their hidden village. It seems they were not hidden from that demon's eye. It being tall enough to look at them from above might explain why. The giant fox was raging and killing anything and everything in its path. Had it not been that sudden an attack, they would have simply evacuated the town, hide, wait for it to go away and rebuild their home. That was not to be. The savage beast was not only destroying landscape but was hunting anything alive that caught its eye, even if it was so small that it could not flee before being crushed beneath its paws.

The totality of the village's ninjas went to fight it. It was not going to go down easy. It was way out of their league. The Yondaime finally found a solution, but a cruel one. It had to be sealed in a living being. A newborn child. Her child! The fragile link to life of a youngster and the still developing chakra system allow a little twinkle with the soul to make it hold, with the help of a seal, the very spirit of the bijuu. She knew she had the last baby born in Konoha.

"Tu-tu-tut…"

She knew she only had moments before an Anbu would come, take her baby away and leave her alone. Even from where she stood, she could see the little flies that were ninjas around the fox. She could hear its outraged growling when a lucky strike scratched its skin.

Then she saw him. It must be the Yondaime himself. Only Jiraiya and the current Hokage could summon the frog boss, Gamabunta. A soft blue light was shining on the top of the toad's head. The Kyuubi seemed truly interested for once. The frog boss jumped ahead with his blade drawn and tried to stab the monster before him. He was stopped by the tails of the fox, and one even wounded his head. He was about to sink his teeth in the toad's throat when the light, that never stopped, grew brighter. Then she saw a flash that engulfed the surprised beast, the frog boss… the whole battlefield. Then it was gone. But the beast was still there.

The frog boss had disappeared in a way that suggest that the summoner was unable to keep it in this plane. Usually, it meant death. No more blue light. No more fighting. Only a huge unmoving body covered in flaming orange fur. The beast seemed to have been beaten, but how? Her baby, opening his eyes distinct to his clan, was still in her arms. Why? Why had they not come to take her little Sasuke?

* * *

The Sandaime Hokage was an old man. He knew it. That was the reason he passed the title on to his student's student. Minato was smart, strong and respected. He had the drive to protect the village and to make it evolve with his time. He even asked for training session with him, saying he would be old only when he would stop learning! Of course, an ex-Kage named "The Professor" was the best you could hope for as a teacher. Now Minato was gone, leaving the title in his hand again. Why did he have to live so long if it was to bury all the young hopes? He had in his arms one of those very hopes.

"Will you die on me too, Uzumaki Naruto? Will you disappear some day, leaving the village with one less great soul?" Sarutobi asked the young toodler.

He knew that any baby could not contain the soul of the bijuu. Only one blessed with a strong bloodline would. The question was: what was it? The Yondaime came at the last minutes with this child in place of the newborn Uchiha. He seemed to hold it…protectively. Now that he had a chance to look closer, he saw the striking likeliness. His own son. But who was the mother? What was the bloodline? The only one to know gave himself in the Death's God hands. He entered the crowded room filled with the heads of clans, families and the council members. Now was the time to decide of the future of this unknowing hero. He took his place in front of the crowd and they silenced immediately, waiting for the wise man to speak.

"My children, let me present you...", he said in a soft voice that could be heard anywhere in the hall, "...the new village's hero. The newborn son… of a great line that took the burden of hosting the fox spirit."

Seeing a few frown in the eerily silent crowd, he continued.

"Through a forbidden jutsu, the Yondaime ripped the soul of the Kyuubi from its original body and imprisoned it in this child. This toddler's soul, aided with a master seal, will keep away the evil that almost destroyed our village."

It was the moment of truth. The one that would define how the boy would be accepted by everyone he would live with.

* * *

His name was Yatato. He was no ninja and was barely the head of a family of ten. He had a talent to make explosive notes that kept his family away from poverty. He was not that bright and far from strong. He wasn't respected or counted on for anything. Still, he had something special. He was the quickest in the village to make up his mind, and he was a loud mouth. Combine that with the anonym propriety that gives you a massive crowd and you've got the one who makes the real decisions in the village's meetings.

When he heard the Sandaime say that the soul of the monster was in the boy, he almost called it a demon, but he hesitated. Even he don't know why. Then the Hokage explained about the seal and the baby being, in fact, the jailor of that scary beast. Now _that_ changed everything!

"He's a hero! The demon is dead thanks to him!" he yelled.

The crowd, seeing the logic, began to murmur in agreement. Then it exploded its joy, having the confirmation from the Hokage himself that they were now safe, thanks to the saviour in his arms. The sheeps followed the herd right there and then. It was a funny thing, how fate can be so easily changed.

* * *

Now how would he do it? The Kyuubi should have been sealed in his son! Such power to be raised at the beck and call of the Uchiha clan… He would have raised him as any true Uchiha, like his own son, to be the strongest ninja Konoha had ever seen. Now the title of strongest would go to another clan! Oh, but not if he could help it. The Yondaime was a son of war, found on a battlefield, weeping at the lost of both his parents. He was three years old then. The baby, Minato's son, had no clan to belong to. Seeing the boy accepted, the Hokage let his heritage being known. But with the mother unknown, that left him with one last option: adoption. He would look like a benevolent villager kind enough to take him in his clan. He walked in the Hokage's office, having an appointment on that matter. Fugaku Uchiha wasn't surprised to see Hiashi Hyuga in the room but it still didn't pleased him one bit. He wanted the brat too, how surprising.

Sarutobi let a cloud of smoke leave his lips, relaxing himself before the political battle for the ownership of Uzumaki Naruto began. He wasn't blind of their true motivations, but even then, growing up in a clan would be better that in an orphanage. That was the only reason he let it happen. Hopefully, he _was_ the Hokage. He could set _his_ rules. Those were the moments he liked his power over the villagers heads the most.

"Well then, let's begin! We all know why we are here and that none of you two have any priorities over the baby. You will both explain to me, without saying a word about the other clan, why I should let Naruto-kun in your care."

Both of them wanted Naruto. None of them were stupid enough to piss off a Hokage. He ruled, period. The Uchiha gave a nod to his rival, giving him the first word. He would have the last.

"Thank you," said Hiashi, nodding back. "First off, I would like to specify that we have many children around his age that he would be able to grow up with. We are one of the most prestigious clans of Konoha and we train, at a young age, children to become ninja even before their time at the academy. He would have a huge advantage over others."

Hiashi crossed his arms, his points clearly proved.

"Well… Our clan hosts the police force of the village and would keep Naruto safe," began the Uchiha head in turn. "We also have our style of training and fighting, that is if he decides to become a ninja."

Hiashi seemed startled that anything else could be considered. Fugaku made his point, smilling. He would not force the kid to do anything. Anyway, his destiny was to fight.

"On top of that, my wife who, by the way, is forever grateful for the burden that have been lift from her son's shoulder, would be honoured to take care of him in this vulnerable period of life. She's already feeding one child…"

Sarutobi sat back in his chair, dragging a very long puff of smoke. He blew the smoke, his eyes closed, before opening them again.

"I have come to a decision. Both of your clans shall adopt the boy," he said with finallity.

The clan's head didn't saw that one coming.

"What? How?" they asked.

"Fairly easy. As suggested, the mother shall be an Uchiha. I know Mikoto will take good care of him. She's a good woman. The father shall be a Hyuga. No romance intended. Naruto will live with his mother but he'll have the right to see his father anytime he pleases. When Naruto will be old enough to ask, he will be granted any wish to see his mother or father that will be reasonable. Be careful to what either of you tell or teach the boy, because I will be watching over him very closely. I'm doing all of this to prevent clan rivalry and to give Naruto a happy home. If he is ever sad about this or if you pressure him in any way to choose between clans, he will be taken from your custody. And then, punishment _will_ be administered. I love that little blond like my own grandchild already. Do not disappoint me."

The Hyuga and Uchiha bowed before leaving the office.

"So…who in your family is going to be the father?" asked Fugaku curiously to Hiashi.

"My brother, head of the branch family," he answered.

"A slave already, hum? If you ever try to put a curse seal on him, there will be blood shed," stated the Uchiha.

"Of course. If you ever try a ceremony of blood kinship on your side, to try and give him your sharingan and take him further from us, expect retaliation the same."

Fugaku smiled at that. He had actually considered it.

"Agreed. After all, he will have a mother Uchiha and a father Hyuga. Nonetheless, he will stay an Uzumaki."

"It shall be very interesting."

"Indeed."

* * *

In the Uchiha household, things went a lot less smooth.

"What?" Fugaku Uchiha asked his wife, unbelieving her words.

"I will not take that demon brat in my home, less feed it!" she repeated.

"How can you even say that? He is the hero of this village!"

"He is inhabited by the spirit of the beast that killed so many of us! The body hasn't even finished decaying and it's bringing all kind of monsters around! They even say that strange trees are growing where it has fallen. This is an aberration, an abnormality!"

"Stupid woman!" yelled Fugaku, looking very angry.

Mikoto Uchiha took a step back. Rarely did her husband yell at her. She knew of his commanding spirit but never did he use force against her before.

"Don't you realize that the demon is a prisoner now? That this kid is keeping it caged? Do you get in your head that thanks to him, Sasuke _won't_ have to deal with this? Don't you see he is but just another victim?" asked the leader of Konoha's police force.

Mikoto was far from stupid. Her husband had his reasons to want Naruto in their clan. That didn't mean his arguments were invalid.

"So this is the honour of my wife?" he kept on. "She would let a harmless baby fare for itself? Why not put you to the test then?"

Fugaku opened the front door and made a sign. An Anbu came, carrying a small parcel. He took it with great care, walked toward his confused wife and pushed it in her arms. When she looked down, she saw the newborn hero. His little hands were close firmly, as if grabbing the dream he was in, never letting go. The mother took him properly in her arms, resting him against her chest. It was too late for her now: her motherly side took over.

"Damn you husband, damn you. That was a cheap shot," she whispered.

"Will you take care of him?"

"Of course I will," she answered, cradling the young boy protectivelly.

"Do you even regret it?"

"No…I don't. Damn you."

**Beta'ed on 2/23/08 by Rauchster.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other characters. Down with slavery.**

* * *

Honour. Justice. Family. Strength. Respect.

Those were the calligraphies painted on stylized banners around the otherwise very sober Hyuuga dojo. You could have hear a fly, if it was not of the laboured breath emitted by a young girl. Hinata Hyuga was practicing stances, attack and defense patterns that were the bases of the Gentle Fist. The opponent before her pushed her way further what she was able to handle. It had the merit to distracted her from being watched by her cousin, Neji-san, and Naruto-kun, her… friend. The two heads of families were there too. Neji had an air of almost adoration while Hizashi looked politely interested. Naruto looked far more relaxed but was watching with rapt interest, like his step-brother.

He asked to visit his father's clan and his wish was at once granted. He never pondered why. He had loving parents. Life was always so interesting with his brothers Sasuke and Itachi. He could play all he wanted, he had lots of friends and he started the ninja Academy to get as strong as Itachi nii-chan! Sasuke and he always argued about who would beat him first. It often led to senseless brawls that inevitably ended up with both of them on the ground, covered with dirt and laughing. Now, he had a chance to see how the Hyugas fought! Neji could beat him anytime, having already a mastered the bases in his style and being a year older then him. Maybe he should ask his father to learn it as well. He turned toward his father to ask that very question but what he saw stopped him brutally. He had such a hating stare toward Hinata that the veins around his eyes bulged out in a Byakugan form. What was the meaning of this?

Suddenly, Hiashi turned around, mumbling something about hostile intent and fixed a glare at his brother's face. It all happened in an instant. He could not remember getting to his father howling on the ground in pain with Neji-kun. Still, he would forever remember his uncle over them in a dominating pose while his father was clutching his forehead in a futile attempt to ease the pain.

"Otou-san!" yelled Neji, helpless.

Naruto wasn't raised with the Hyugas. Therefore, he didn't know or care about the acceptance around the chain of command between the Branch and the Main family. His father hurted, and that was all that mattered, whoever was responsible. He raised his head toward Hiashi, making him take a step back and unknowingly stop the mental abuse. There was no demon, no unnatural animosity. No chakra was emitted either. What stopped him was the simple look of _pure_ hatred in the face of a six years old that adored him just moment ago. The simple look of powerlessness and incomprehension mixed in an almost teary strained face was too much for his usually masked heart. He composed himself, his mind working miles a minute. Was that how Branch family members felt about the Main family? Did they even see themselves as part of the clan? Or are they looking up at them like slaves?

He walked toward his still panting brother and helped him up.

"No…No. I'm okay. It was my fault. It won't happen again," Hizashi said, avoiding the touch as if he wasn't deserving the help.

"Kami-sama… What have we done?" whispered Hiashi.

His brother looked up, surprised.

"Come to my office, brother. We have much to discuss," ordered the clan head.

Hizashi, in the privacy of his brother's office, explained the frustration for his son to never have the chance to raise his status within the family. Hiashi told him his realization about the inhumanity of the seal and the resulting social disorder in the clan. They talked a very long time.

* * *

Naruto, Neji and Hinata stayed in the garden, sitting on rocks. They were facing the doors leading to Hiashi's office. They had yet to see the twin brothers come out.

"What did your father do to mine, Hinata? What did he do to deserve that anyway?" asked Neji, suddenly angry.

"I-I-I don't know, Neji-san. It's… It's that thing… like the one you have on your forehead," Hinata tried to explain, herself very confused.

"You mean that you could do _that_ to _me_?" he yelled, getting off of his rock.

"I would not! Never! I…" Hinata begun, panicked.

"But you _could_!" insisted Neji, taking a step forward.

"Stop that Neji-kun, you're acting like an idiot," snarled Naruto angrily.

"_What_?"

Nobody just tells a Hyuga he's an idiot, but there's always a first.

"I said you're acting stupid! Look! You're making Hinata-chan cry!" said Naruto, pointing the young Hyuga girl.

And he was right. Tears were flowing freely for her face and she had her hand closed, near to her mouth in a defensive posture.

"It doesn't matter that she could do it if she never want to! It's like giving me a kunai and accusing me that I will stab you with it because I can."

"I know, but…" said Neji, looking away, shameful.

"But what? You'll bully her before she can do it to you?" pressed Naruto.

"No!"

"Then what? I remember you saying during practice how you admire Hinata-chan and how you would always protect her!"

"It's true? Really?" asked the young girl, managing to talk trough the tears.

Hinata looked at her cousin now with those big Bambi's eyes. You know them, those big, rounds and shiny ones that are so cute nobody can stare at them for too long? It worked well on Neji.

"S-Stop lookin' at me like that. It's embarrassing," he said, looking redder than ever.

"So it's true?" she pressed on.

Neji was probably counting the sand grains before his feet from the position of his head. He lightly nodded nonetheless.

"Then nothing changed" stated a proud Naruto. "That was something stupid to invent, that stupid drawing on your head," he said, snorting.

"It was the best solution at the time."

The three of them looked up to see Hiashi and his brother just over them. Since when were they listening?

"But you are right," kept on Hiashi. "Its utility became a nuisance. It doesn't help if by protecting the clan from outside spying, we destroy the clan from the inside. The Main and Branch family will stay, but that stupid drawing, the cursed seal, shall be removed. Only a more discreet tattoo will indicate a Branch member, and the Main family member that he is affiliated with. That is thanks to you, Naruto."

"To me?" the young blond asked.

"Truth came from innocence. The righteous anger you showed opened my eyes," nodded Hiashi gravely.

Naruto shuffled his feet in the sand as he remembered how angry he was.

"Sorry 'bout that. I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay, and thank you. Is there anything that you would like?"

"Well…"

* * *

Sasuke and Naruto, age seven, were running back from the Academy. Instead of going straight home, they entered a forest patch north of the Uchiha sector. They knew what they would find there. They slowed down and used all the stealth their blooming skills allowed them to. At a particular location, they stopped. The targets changed places everyday. If they could only find one… there! Funny! They had the target just over their heads and they didn't notice! Right there… just over… their heads… To their credits, they only ducked their heads a bit and clamped their hands on their mouths when three kunais embedded themselves in the round wooden circle, less than a meter away.

Sasuke got his bearing back first and pointed where the knives were from. Naruto nodded and they proceeded to crawl around the bush they were hidden behind… until a hand grabbed each of them from the back of their pants and lifted them in the air.

"Itachi niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii…"

Naruto took is breath back.

"iiiiiiiiiii-chan! That's not fair!"

Itachi chuckled and let him drop on his hand and knees.

"And you're still as whinny."

"Let me go too!" demanded Sasuke, arm crossed.

"And why should I?"

"Because if you don't, you can't resume your training!" answered Sasuke smartly with a face that say "Ha! Gotcha there!"

"Is that so…"

Itachi put his little brother on his shoulder and started to jump from tree to tree, going slow enough for Naruto to barely follow them from below, stopping now and then to throw kunais at targets and dummies.

"Niii-chan! Let me go!" yelled Sasuke, flaying his arms and legs.

"You really want me to drop you?" taunted Itashi.

They were high up now. Really high.

"Noooo! Put me down! Don't drop meeeeeeeee!"

"Well you should make up your mind now, don't you? And it's your fault that you crawled on me while training."

Naruto was panting and yelling. Sasuke was beating the back of his brother with his little fists, laying across the shoulder of Itachi. They were having so much fun!

"What am I ever going to do with you two? You can't even beat me two on one!" teased Itashi.

Even meters across from each others, the answer of the two was in perfect synchronism.

"We'll beat you, just you wait!"

Itachi was not surprised by their words, but by the mirror look of determination they held.

* * *

"It's not fair Naruto! You beat me because you used the Gentle Fist! I would have won if you used the Uchiha style!" pouted Sasuke, walking back from the Academy with his brother.

"Which is why I used the Gentle Fist… duh!" said Naruto, proud of himself.

"At least you beat Neji at the Hyuga mansion last time… with the Uchiha style! The face of your father was priceless!" said Sasuke happily.

"Yeah, I got him by surprise this time. When he's gonna activate his Byakugan though… it won't work anymore. And father told me those sparring matches were to evaluate my progression with the Gentle Fist," grunted Naruto.

"Huh. Hey, that ceremony the Hyuga are going through… it's after next week, isn't it?"

"Yeah! They are making peace with another hidden village! It's Hidden Cloud I think. More allies!"

"I wish I could go," Sasuke said sadly.

"Hyuga only!" mocked Naruto.

"Then you won't go either, you're an Uzumaki!"

"Not funny! My father is…"

They both stopped, entering the Uchiha complex. The sun was setting but they could not mistake the patch of red coming out of some doors for the dying sun's ray.

"What…Where is everybody?" mumbled Sasuke.

Naruto made a first heavy step, being rooted on the spot a moment ago. Sasuke imitated him and they were soon running, doors to doors, calling names. No one was there. Some houses had traces of a struggle. They finally walked on the body of their grand-parents. They kneeled. They wept. Until Sasuke uttered one word.

"Okasan…"

They ran again. Even if their little chests got tight from fear and made it difficult to breath.

"Okasan? OKASAN!"

They were not in the entrance, nor in the kitchen. But they found hell in the living room. Uchiha Fugaku was laying face down on the floor, a pool of blood growing around him. Their mother was still standing, but she slid down the katana that had pierced her and fell too.

"KAAAASAAAAAN!"

It was impossible. It was a nightmare. Wake up Naruto, wake up dammit! But no matter how many time it repeated in his head… His eyes showed him the death of everyone. Only Sasuke was still alive before him, crying on the body of their mother, and the man who killed her. The man who killed everyone.

"How…Why…Who are you?" he finally asked.

The man walked in the light, showing Sharingan eyes with three dots.

"Itachi nii-chan?" That tiny croaking came from Sasuke's throat. "You… You did all this?"

"Yes. I needed to know something," Itashi said, walking forward.

"To know what?" asked a trembling Naruto.

"How strong I am."

They felt ice cold blood in their vein, freezing them deep inside. Down to the very core that make them human. They lost it. Sasuke jumped on his feet and Naruto dashed at his side. They drew what weapons they had, practice kunais. Practice or not, they were still deadly. But then they stopped, paralyzed. Not by fear or surprise. They were simply unable to move. Then they looked around. The sun was not set yet. They were in the compound streets. Itachi was before them, a blade in his hand. In front of him were their still alive mother and Sasuke's father.

"This is the Mangekyou Sharingan," said Itashi, as if giving a simple shinobi lesson. "It is the ultimate dojutsu. Nothing can break it. I will prove it to you by showing you again and again the death of the clan, for the next twelve hours. Just one word before I start. You hate me? Grow stronger. Let hatred make you strong. Then come back to face me. But for now…"

And the carnage began anew.

* * *

The two boys woke up a few days later. They both felt terrible. First, they were thirsty as if they hadn't drank in days, which was the case. Their beds were next to each other. They had woken up almost at the same time. After a drink from room temperature water left in a pitcher, they began a wall staring contest. Why were they here? What happened? None of them dared to ask because deep down, they knew. They felt that if they asked, reality would come crashing on them and crush them in pieces. Reality have a cruel way to get back at you sometime, even in the form of a whisper. Two nurses passed by their room, talking quietly.

"…those two. Everybody else is dead, and no pretty death. They had just enough time to feel it and realize. By the look of the wounds, he let everyone live a few seconds before…"

They could not escape it anymore. Naruto was sitting in his bed, shaking and tears flowing. His face however, without the tears, would have looked totally emotionless. As Sasuke was sobbing loudly in his pillow, his mind just froze, letting his body act on his own. They spent hours like that. Then they fell asleep. They woke up and fell asleep like that for some time, not counting the days. One night, Naruto woke up to see Sasuke at the window. He walked up to him and looked outside. There was a big party at the Hyuga compound. They could hear the music and see the fireworks.

"The ceremony. It has been exactly nine days since it happened," analysed Naruto.

"Yeah," simply answered Sasuke.

"I'm leaving this place tomorrow. I'm tired of these walls."

"Me too."

Without another word, they got back to bed.

The day after, they woke up early but could not leave as fast as they wanted. _Now_ the nurses were fussing at them. They passed a physical exam and were deemed healthy enough. When one of them asked them where they would go, they got a simple reply from both of them.

"Home."

They walked, hands in their pockets, down the main street of Konoha. At a turn, Naruto stopped. If he continued, he would end up at the Uchiha sector. If he turned left, he would go to the Hyuga mansion. He felt like a traitor. He chose the coward way out. Sasuke didn't even turn back.

At the Huyga mansion, he noticed something was wrong. For the day after such a celebration, the mood was too dark. He went directly to his father's home and found the door open. He walked to it but didn't enter. From where he was, he could clearly see Neji in his mother's arms, crying.

"No. Not that. Please anything but that," he said, his mind picturing the worst, and being right.

Neji heard Naruto quiet plea and tried to talk, still crying.

"Naruto… Father… they took him and…I don't understand why Father… why it has to be him… Naruto… it's those Cloud nins… Naruto? Where are you going?"

But he had already turned around. Not saying a word, hands in his pockets, he got out of the Hyuga sector. He didn't have anymore tears to shed. He just felt so empty. So very empty. He left his feet walk on their own. Why didn't he stay? Why didn't he joined Neji to get comfort and just cry together with him in Neji mother's arms?

That was the answer. It was Neji's mother. Not his. His mother died ten days ago. Now he lost his father. He wasn't a Hyuga. He never really lived there. His true link to that place was his father. Now he was gone. Neji was more of a close cousin then a brother. There was only one person now that he could consider as such.

His feet knew already what his brain just told him. He was standing in front of the home he had for the last seven, almost eight years. He walked in without knocking.

"I'm home."

Noise upstairs betrayed where Sasuke was. He looked at Naruto from the top of the stairs. He didn't seem to know what to do. Naruto just stood there.

"Welcome home."

* * *

Sasuke put water to boil. They didn't have the courage to do anything more complicated than instant noodle to eat. He then sat at the table where Naruto put two bowls.

"So…why coming back?" asked Sasuke tentatively.

"My father is dead," answered Naruto in a drone voice.

"You don't need to tell me," said Sasuke harshly, "I was there."

"No, not your father. My father."

Sasuke's eyes widen in realization.

"How?"

"I don't know exactly. It have something to do with the ceremony, I think, and the Cloud ninja."

"Then…"

"I'm an orphan. Just like you. All I have left is you, Aniki."

"I'm only two days older, Naruto. But the Hyuga?"

"They are not my family. I realized that. They will probably try to get me there. But it is you, now, my family. They won't get me away. I'm staying."

"Alright… Aniki." said Sasuke with a sad smirk.

Naruto smiled back. The kettle started whistling.

* * *

**Beta'ed by Rauchster 2/23/08**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other characters. But I'll take good care of them if you give them to me. Really.**

* * *

One year later

Sasuke launched an attack, Naruto parried. Naruto launched a counter-attack, Sasuke evaded it. Each day, they forced themselves to learn, invent and practice new moves. They saw how fast sparring became pointless when you always do the same things over and over again. They both studied the Uchiha style with the help of family scrolls. Naruto, knowing he would never have the sharingan, asked for a few lessons from the Hyuga clan and a few scrolls to help him train. He was trying to pull off an Uchiha-Hyuga Hybrid style. It was slowly getting some coherence, but it was still a far cry from being ready to use in real combat. As the kick he received proved. Sasuke stopped his assault to take his breath.

"Why are you still trying that Aniki? Those two styles are too different!" said Sasuke, resuming an earlier discussion.

"It can work!" argued Naruto. "Your style is awesome for its speed, but the problem with the moves is that they are keyed with the sharingan!"

"Then why am I able to beat you without one?"

"Because you are only studying the Uchiha style. I have to work with the Gentle Fist defense and stances. It is great in pure speed too, when it his enhanced with chakra, but the problem is the attack!"

"And you cannot control chakra yet."

"Exactly. While I can land many attack on you, they lack power because I don't have the Byakugan and 'chakra touch'. I am still trying to figure that one out since they told me they cannot teach it to someone outside the Hyuga clan."

"They are still trying to get you in?" frowned Sasuke.

"Yep," acknowledged naruto, getting up.

"They should have learned better after the last time. That kidnapping attempt… "

"It was still fun to see you and the old man Hokage storm the compound! There's a good reason why he's the boss!"

"Ha! Yeah. Good intention didn't save Hiashi to have his ass kicked."

They both laugh at the sweet memory.

"He deserved it, after what he allowed to happen to my father," said Naruto quieting down.

"Yeah. But we can't forget it's mainly the Cloud nins fault's,"said Sasuke, his expression hardening.

"And forget I won't, believe me. We may have a long way to go, but those _will_ pay."

"Talking about a way to go, isn't it time to get to the Academy?"

"Oh shit!"

Getting out of the Uchiha compound, they put their emotional masks on. Sasuke was the brooding one. Silent, one word sentence kinda guy. Naruto told him a few times that people might think he've got a stick stuck somewhere real dark. Usually, Sasuke replied with a finger. One clue: it's not the thumb.

Naruto went with the perpetual half-smile. He wasn't talkative nor was he silent. He seemed to always see something the other couldn't while being completely indifferent to everything else. They pretty much _had_ to be that way or the girls would never stop. Why does a tragic, mysterious past attracted them so much? After all, who cares. They were only girls.

The lesson of the day was about the history of great jonins. When, at the lunch break, Iruka showed a trick to help with chakra manipulation, using only a leaf, Naruto snorted when he saw Choji, Kiba and Shikamaru leave by the window. Sasuke turned toward Naruto, a rare smile passing the barrier of his mouth.

"Well… we know what we will be trying new now," he said.

"We sure do. But I'll take this moment where the class is half-empty, except for those gossiping girls, to ask a few tips in taijutsu from Iruka."

Naruto walked to him, looking at the resigned face of the brave teacher.

"What is it Naruto? You wanna join them? Feel free to go while we're at it, the window's open already."

"Thanks for the offer but I'll pass. Instead, I have a technical problem to talk about."

Without going in too much details, Naruto told him about his attacks problem. Iruka took a pensive pose.

"What you need is more speed and a heavier punch to compensate the lack of chakra induced speed and the light hit of the Hyuga style. I know just the 'Gai' to see."

Iruka laugh at his own joke. Naruto blinked his eyes twice.

"Hum. Well there is that Jonin, Mighto Gai, who took a pupil this year. He is on a mission right now but his student is always training in the training area number three after Academy hours."

"Thank you sensei."

Naruto got back to his seat and relayed the information to Sasuke.

"Good," sais Sasuke. "You go check that out, but don't be too long. It's our ramen day of the week."

"Training or ramen. I didn't know you were so cruel, Aniki."

* * *

"One hundred sixty-one. One hundred sixty-two. One hundred sixty-three. One hundred…"

Naruto and Sasuke took great care in keeping their training a secret. They never even showed their progress at the Academy. That guy, except for choosing a remote location, didn't do much to be overlooked. When he finally saw him, Naruto understood why. That boy looked too… unique… to even hope to disappear in a crowd. You never find _that_ bright of a green tone in a natural forest either.

"Hi over there," greeted Naruto

"Hi-one hundred sixty-nine…" muttered the strangely clad boy.

"Hum… can't you take a slight brake? I want to talk to you about…"

"I have no time to stop."

"…your training."

At that, the boy, who was doing one handed push-up, give himself a flip and landed on his feet.

"Yosh! Another one burning with the flame of youth to seek strength given by hard work!"

At that point, he had teary eyes, as if he had found a long lost brother. Naruto _didn't_ want to imagine himself with a bowl-cut.

"Brrrrrrrrr… too late," he muttered, shaking a chill.

"What did you say?" asked the boy, confused.

"Nothing, but yes, I am trying to… burn myself in heavy training and you seemed to be so into it. By the marks on the training logs around us, you have something going on to give you that strength and stamina."

"Sorry, but my training methods can only be discussed with Gai-sensei."

"I understand. If I don't bother you, can I watch? I'll be quiet. I might even come back to train with you if you'd like. By the way, I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

"And… I'm Rock Lee. You're serious? You'd come to train with me?"

"Sure. Why not?"

Lee almost sent himself in another monolog about youth but simply couldn't. Whatever if it was because of his look or the fact he could not mold chakra, or because he was an orphan, he didn't have many friends.

"I'd like that. But sorry, no training secrets."

"That's alright. If I can't guess by myself, I'll ask Gai-sensei."

Lee smirked at that.

"Feel free to look then."

He began to do sit-up. Since he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, Naruto placed himself to hold his feet. Sigh… ramen would have to wait…

* * *

A month passed in a blur. Many things happened and the unofficial Uchiha Brothers saw their skills boost-jump. After seeing Lee get faster, only to come back to his previous speed, but damaging the trees and dummies much more, Naruto understood the concept of weight training. Sasuke agreed that it would be good to start on it too, but with weights more dispersed than just the legs, and lighter. They tied some at their arms and legs. They disguised them as bracelets. They wore training vest in permanence too. When they saw how their speed progressed when they took them off, they joined Lee three times a week in the area number three for heavy physical training. They never used chakra in those sessions. Lee was _the_ specialist in physical and taijutsu training amongst all the rookies. They respected that. Using pure brute force only made them grow that much.

Still, their greatest progress was in chakra manipulation. Sasuke knew one complex jutsu: the Gokakyu no Jutsu or the Greath Fireball. By praticing that technique, he had an advantage over Naruto, who was still struggling over the Bushin. That changed with the leaves exercise. They passed hours, one in front of the other, just trying, at first, to make a small green leaf move up and down their nose. It was like using a new muscle: it gained strengh and flexibility with uses. It took a while to pick it up for Naruto but once he got the hang of it, he liked it a lot!

After pushing it up and down their nose, they tried to make it rotate. That was tricky. But then it was getting easier to move it along the side of their arms and legs but it always got stuck at the base of their feet. They wondered why. There were path along their body where it was easier to make it follow and after comparaison, it was pretty much the same for both of them.

Then, a revelation happened. After putting to much chakra on the leaf, it bounced off Naruto's forehead, like it sometimes happened. It landed on Sasuke's nose. That got Naruto laughing and pointing at Sasuke's face. Yeah, he was pretty exausted. But then Sasuke, as a revenge, pushed enough chakra to propel the leave back at Naruto, on purpose. Then began a match of chakra leaves throwing. It became part of the training. After a month, they were sitting on the ground, feet touching, sending multiples leaves to each others without moving a limb. They had to catch the four leaves continuously sent airborn by glueing it on their skin with chakra, moving it somewhere else and sending it back. While they did that, two leaves raced up and down their connected legs.

After a while, they tried to talk in the same time. Then they hold a conversation without missing a beat. They were at the point they could reach out for the leaves when they were still in the air and change their courses.

"Sasuke?"

"Hum?"

"I've got an idea for my taijutsu style."

"Nice."

…

"Sasuke?"

"Yeah?"

"I will have to kill those Cloud ninjas to avenge father. You will help me, ne?"

"Yeah."

_Two pairs of heavily armored, soft green sandals walked down an alley in Konoha._

"We will have to get a lot stronger and prepare a trip so nobody suspect us. It will be good training, ne?"

"Yeah."

_In those sandals were two young men, one with black baggy shorts with the Uchiha crest on the side, the other had his baggy shorts white with the same symbol on the opposite side._

"And then… we'll get even stronger. Because we… well we didn't voiced it before but…"

_The two of them had a tool pouch and kunais hanging from their twin belts in a 'X' crossing shape._

"…we have to kill Itachi. That's why we get stronger… ne?"

"…Yeah."

_The one with the black shorts had a blue plain shirt. The one with the white short had an orange shirt with a huge black spiral on the chest and a brown leather jacket opened over it._

"He was a genius. He was jonin at the age of twelve, and Anbu at the age of fourteen. He was way stronger than what we are now."

"Yeah."

_One had a light scowl on his face. The other, a perpetual half-smile._

"But we can get stronger, and you're bright too. So… together, we have a chance. A chance to beat him. A chance to kill him."

"Yeah… we do."

_The two of them supported sunglasses on the top of their heads. They could see the ninja Academy at the far end of the street._

"Then… let's do it. Let's kill the ones who killed everyone we had precious. Then we'll see what kind of life lie after that."

"Yeah…let's kill them, and send them all to hell."

**Konoha, three years later, the Genin exam's day**

The two boys stopped a few hundreds feet away from the main entrance.

"We are followed," stated Naruto.

"I know," answered Sasuke.

Twelve years old Sasuke and Naruto were going, on this day, to become Genins of Konoha.

"Why today?" asked Sasuke, looking up.

"I don't know why kami hate us that much," acknowledge Naruto.

"You think they surrounded us yet?"

"I don't wanna be trampled again."

"Stop whinning and think. Do they know we spotted them?"

"We stopped walking at a good distance of the Academy on the exam day: it is, I think, a dead givaway."

"So?"

"Well… escape route number six?"

"Why not?"

"Sigh…Damn fangirls."


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I know I don't own Naruto or any other characters related! Man! You just keep pushing now, don't you?**

* * *

Sasuke and Naruto picked on each other's brain on the remaining travel to the Academy, even on escape route number six. To those among you, ignorant, who don't know yet what is escape route number six, let me explain. Sigh.

Those who bothered to read the "Ninja's manual of stealth against fangirls" know that after a while, conventional roads are all under watch, same for the rooftops and, for the more persistent, the sewers. You, then, have to get creative. The escape route number six is through a building. To them, knowing the surrounding of the Academy is to know who lives there too. They were currently crossing a living room, with the Henges of stray cats on, talking quietly. The woman staying there was half senile already so having her tell someone about a couple of talking stray cats in her house… let's just assume the nurse will suggest the radio was playing.

"They are almost as challenging as the Anbu, neh?" Naruto said.

"Which is quite insulting to the Anbu. Go tell one he's as skilled as a fangirl," answered Sasuke.

Ever wanted to see a cat rolling on the ground laughing? Look just over there…

"Good one. I'll try and send a 'Henge Bushin' try that!"

"You and your pranks... One of theses days, someone is going to figure out who does them."

"Funny how nobody's suspecting the one with the fox inside. A fox of all thing, dammit!"

"Don't you dare blame the fox on this one!"

"Yeah… Why don't you choose a girl yet so that the other give up?" asked the blond slyly.

"Why don't you?"countered Sasuke.

Sasuke and Naruto answered to that in perfect harmony.

"No time!"

"Lets keep the cat coat a little longer, but shut up for once," said Sasuke.

"Hai, hai, Aniki…"

Two kitten jumped out the window and raced to the Academy. They got back to normal once on the roof. From there it was not a problem to get to class. The girls were still looking for them outside. They sat near a window, just so that their stalkers were not too late for class, waiting for them in the street. They didn't have to wait long for them to run in the building, but at least the fangirls kept themselves in check a bit more in the classroom.

"So… mumbled Sasuke, "...what will happen to the lucky girl today?"

"I've got a real treat for her!" quietly whispered Naruto. "If they haven't understood yet, they never will. Remember the time with the hedgehog and the pincushion?"

"Yeah…"

"Well that's even better…"

"Now you got me interested."

Each days, the fangirls fought for _the_ seat. Each day, something happened to the winner. If she's lucky, all the screws from her chair and desk will have been removed, resulting in a classic but spectacular fall. They always put it on the back of some nameless jealous fangirls. After all, Naruto always helped them get up. They never realised it was on these days their kunai pouch went missing and was found back on the neighbour guard dog's pet house. If they were unlucky… lets just not go there.

Today, it was a cute petite girl with long wavy brown hair. Even if Naruto was not interested in a romance right now and living alone with another guy, he was not gay. That girl was true eye candy. He almost regretted what was about to happen. Almost. But still he thanked mentally all those exercises they went through that results in a profusion of hot females bodies. No wonder why kunoichi were so deadly…

The girl tentatively sat up and did not fall on the floor. She opened the desk and no unwanted flora or animals jumped at her. She let out a breath she wasn't sure when she started holding. Maybe it was her lucky day! She turned toward Naruto… to find out she wasn't in the right seat. They were four rows in front of her! They didn't sit there usually, do they? She got up, almost ran at the right seat before some other girls got there first and turn to look at the two hottest rebels of Konoha. From his seat, Sasuke snorted. The girl didn't see that, her Sasuke looking out the windows, unmovingly exept when the wind played in his spiky hair and while the sparkling ray of the sunlight shone in his eyes…

Okay. Maybe Naruto went a little far with the genjutsu. What was unexpected was that another fangirl took the original place the first girl left, which was the good one. She, too, looked around, got up, and sat beside the first fangirl. Not understanding, all of them, exept Sakura, who was frowning, and Hinata, who had her eyebrow almost in her hair, fell for the genjutsu taking effect on the chair beside Naruto.

When Iruka got in the class, almost all the girl were seated in a line… at his desk, looking out the window.

"What the heck is happening here?"

That was enough to dispel the light genjutsu and send the young girls, blushing, to their places. They blamed Sakura, since she was the only one still at her place, with Hinata, but the Hyuga was too freaking shy to do anything of the like.

"Okay class. Today is the Genins exam. You're all gonna pass a simple physical and then come back here for a ninjutsu test. Yes, it's the bushin. Now hurry up! The soonest you go, the fastest you pass! Naruto, somebody's at the door for you."

"Who?"

"Somebody you don't leave waiting," answered Iruka simply.

Naruto got up to meet his visitor while the other students went to the first part of the test. The blond turned the corner only to be faced by a white-grey yukata. He didn't even have to raise his head to recognize it.

"Hiashi-sama. What a surprise."

"Naruto-kun. Konnichiwa. How are you today?" asked the Hyuga clan's head.

" Me? Well… I… am waiting to get to my physical in order to become Genin so… no stress. Anyway, I'll be at the back of the line by now."

"Yes. Sorry about that. You are starting to be a very hard little man to track," said Hyashi, grinning a little.

Naruto hated to be called 'little'. Yes, he was a little smaller than most other guys his age. But he liked to think he was broader. In which he was right.

"So… The Genin Exam. I remember mine very well."

"Fascinating, Hiashi-san. Now if you could kindly offer me to join your clan so I can refuse, I would like to go pointlessly wait in a line. Somehow, it look like less of a waste of time to me."

"Naruto…I don't understand your anger toward me," said Hyashi with sad eyes.

"I hold you partly responsible for the death of my father. Didn't you realize that yet? The others I blame for this is my father himself to even propose his own sacrifice and leaving two sons behind. The others are in that Cloud's nins clan. By the way, how are the relations with Lightning country? Good I hope?"

"We are pretty much in open hostilities with them and you know it," answered Hiashy, finally showing irritation.

"That will teach you something about politic then. No good alliance will ever come out of human sacrifice."

Naruto walked past him before his emotions get the best of him.

"Naruto. You will become a ninja today. You know that our clan have facilities to help training and a well garnished library. You could have your own tutor. Many Hyugas became Anbu, you know."

Naruto stopped at that. It was too much. Now it got personal. He mentally apologized to Sasuke. What he was about to do could leave nothing but trouble. They worked so hard to get their progress a secret… By the time he got back in front of Hiashi, he made up his mind.

'Sasuke is more important than anything I would want to prove to Hiashi, as tempting it is. I've got to reign it in. I can't tell,' he though.

"So now you resort to trying to buy me in, is that it Hiashi-sama? said Naruto in a low voice.

"No, it's not…"

"I forgot. You already started. From the day you refused to teach the secret of the chakra disrupting touch of the Gentle fist to … how was it? Ha! Yes! Somebody out of the family. One who's name is not 'Hyuga'."

"Naruto…"

"So now what? You'll forbid me to walk freely in the Hyuga compound until I've got some cheap tattoo somewhere on me?"

"Your brother miss you."

"Cheap shot! I don't fall for that. I saw Neji at the Academy for a good while before he became a Genin. Hinata's in my class and we even may end up in the same team. The only thing stopping her to talk to me is her how shyness."

"I don't know what to say."

"Meaning that you got your last argument out? If this is it, I will go now. The line must have thinned out already."

Naruto turned his back once again on the most powerful clan leader of Konoha. Just before turning a corner, he spoke low, just loud enough to be heard by an unmoving Hiashi.

"I wish you a good day… uncle."

Sasuke watched as Naruto came to the exam room, being the last left waiting.

"So?" he simply asked.

"The usual," Naruto answered, shrugging.

"What did you let out?"

"Nothing. But it came close. He gave the 'Neji' argument out."

"Cheap shot."

"Yeah."

"Don't worry, Aniki. Anything else?"

"Almost nothing, you know. Just the fighting style, a limitless access to their library and an Anbu tutor."

Sasuke opened his eyes wide.

"Holy shit."

"Yeah."

Sasuke checked around to be sure they were alone and that no one was spying from afar.

"You…You know, right? I don't have to say it… right?"

"Say what?"

Naruto had that false naïve face Sasuke damned the most. He just felt he owed it to Naruto. To turn down such an offer…

"You know… that fluffy stuff. That I'm proud to be your brother and that I'm happy you're there with me… and stuff."

Naruto smiled and punched Sasuke lightly on the arm.

"Yeah, I know, Aniki. 'Cause I feel the same. Still good to hear it once in a while, right?"

An embarrassed Sasuke nodded without looking at him. And some girl said it was easier to be a guy… right!

The physical went well. Even for the weight test. They had to keep their bracelets on for the mobility exam and target practice so it looked like they were giving their all… and take them off without them realizing before getting on the scale. They managed, somehow, to fool the forty year old Genin that had the job to test them. Now that they think about it, it should have been harder!

Then it was the moment of truth. Sasuke went in. Less than thirty seconds later, he was out, a little smirk on his face.

"Your turn."

Naruto walked in. Iruka let him take place in front of Mizuki and him.

"Okay Naruto. Give us three Bushins and you're outta here with this nice Konoha forehead protector," with an infocommercial presentator's voice.

"If I call in the next twenty second, can I have a second one free?" said Naruto with a falsely astoundished face.

Iruka laughed out loud while Naruto put the seals together.

"Bushin no jutsu."

Three nice Bushin stood there imitating Naruto's every moves. He began a tap dance of victory, giving quite a show as the Bushins following his lead.

"Haha! I'm proud of you Naruto. Ramen on me tonight!"

"Thanks you Iruka-sensei! I will take you on that offer but not tonight. I've got something planned with Sasuke."

"Alright. Don't party too late! We give out team listing tomorrow. Don't worry, you've got nothing to fear. Usually, the strongest goes with the weakest to help balancing the teams, but you already have a good team player with you."

"Thank you Iruka. That means a lot."

"Naruto, wait for me outside, I want a word with you alone," said his second teacher.

"No problem Mizuki-sensei."

Naruto waved Iruka goodbye and then got out to find Sasuke waiting.

"Show off."

"So what?"

"Humpf. Go and see what Mizuki want. It's not the only evaluation we've got today, you know."

"I know. It's going to be a busy evening."

How much, he didn't even know yet.

* * *

Naruto ran in the forest toward a cabin with a scroll tied on his back. To steal it from the Hokage office with Genin techniques have been… disturbingly easy.

_"You have to know, Naruto, creating three Bushin is an excuse of a test for those who can't even do that," told him Mizuki after the exam._

"_Really?" Naruto said, taken aback. It was the first time he heard of this._

_"Yes. The real test is now. If you manage to steal the scroll of Forbidden Jutsu in the Hokage office and get to the lost cabin in training area eight, you pass."_

So, Naruto cancelled the 'evaluation' with Sasuke that they did, once a month, to check their progress and adjust their training accordingly. He watched the chunins patrol led by a Jonin. He passed over the simple layer trap. He got in, took the scroll, and got out. Now that he got to the cabin, he only had to land and wait. He landed. He waited. But not very long. Iruka seemed to have catch up to him, following his trail. Shit. That would not go well. Where the heck was Mizuki?

"Iruka-sensei! What a surprise! What are you doing here?"

"NAAARUUUTOOOO! What the _hell_ do you think you're doing!"

"Passing my exam, sensei."

"Huh?"

"Well, yeah! Mizuki-sensei told me to steal the scroll as a mission! That would make me truly pass my Genin exam! But really, is there enough Forbidden Scroll for every Genin of our class?"

The stupid question from a usually bright student should have tiped him off, but he got busy playing human shield over Naruto.

"Sensei!"

Hopefully, the kunaïs were destined for Naruto's heart and head. The way Iruka moved, it got in his shoulder and leg. Funny how we discard such wounds when they hurt so _freaking much_!

"Well now, what have we here…" said a voice from behind a tree.

"Mizuki-sensei! Why are you doing this? I got the scroll without Iruka's help!" plead Naruto.

"You don't get it, do you, demon brat…"said Mizuki in a low voice.

Naruto shot a quick look to Iruka meaning 'shut the hell up'. He turned toward Mizuki, once again with a confused face.

"What? What did I miss?"

"Stupid brat! Thinking I wanted the Forbidden Scroll to give you a nice Genin diploma? Wrong! I will kill you, kill the injured Iruka here and take the scroll to master Orochimaru. How do you feel now, traitor who stole the scroll?" he finished mockingly.

"Pretty good, thanks."

"Huh?"

That's the moment the Hokage chose to get out of the cabin and that the camouflaged Anbu surrounded him.

"WHAT?"

Even Iruka seemed surprised. Probably because he was.

"Do you really think I'm that naïve? The old man is the first I went to see. That way was the best way to know your real motive. The mental torture you're undergoing right now is so much sweeter anyway," said the grinning blond.

Mizuki shouted at being had, by a Genin none the less, right before he was knocked out cold. A medic Anbu took care of Iruka's wounds while Naruto turned to talk with the Hokage.

"Thank you Naruto," said the old man, bowing his head. "You stopped what could have been a disaster. Come and take tea with me some time. I miss those days when you barged in my office with Sasuke in tow, demanding a new jutsu to learn that would blow up a mountain with two or three seals."

Naruto chuckled at that.

"Beware of what you ask, old man. Now, for your end of the deal."

"Haaa. Yes. You can choose a technique in the scroll of Forbidden Jutsu, and so does Sasuke. Just…"

"Be wary. Be careful. Do not overestimate yourself. Don't strain your mind, deplete your chakra, cut a limb or drink milk passed the due date. Yeah. As if I would do any of these. Why don't you help us then? You would be sure we got it right!"

"Why now, that's a rich idea!" answered Sarutobi, delighted.

'Getting a forbidden jutsu to learn, trained by the Hokage named 'The Professor'…I must try not to droll,' Naruto though.

* * *

Iruka, healed, but still having soft spots from his injuries, gave the teams orders, first thing in the morning. Naruto and Sasuke were particularly glad for some reason. The fangirls though that the 'cat that just ate the canary' look was quite hot on Sasuke. Many of them wished they had been that canary.

"Team Seven: Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura."

There. They were with a fangirl. That wasn't really fair to say since the only way not to be with one would have been to be paired with Hinata. Too bad. Naruto would have liked to be with his cousin. The Jonins Instructors came and went, gathering their students. Now happened what every child liked the least in a day care center. They were the last being picked up.

'Damn' though Sakura, 'Where is he? Doesn't he, whoever he is, know he have to come here?'

She resumed her favourite hobby. Looking at Sasuke. He was currently whispering to Naruto. Naruto actually make a pretty good background.

'Oh my god! I still can't believe I am teamed up with the two hottest boy of the class! Look at those two! They… Did they look at me? Yes they did! Sasuke did! Oh my god. He's walking this way. Oh my _god_! He's going to speak to me!'

Their masked Jonin chose that moment to enter the classroom. Sasuke turned around and sit back aside of Naruto.

'No. No! NOOOOOO! My romance! My ninja summer love!'

In an excess of frustration, Sakura took a chalkboard eraser and threw it right at the source of the disturbance. Square in the face of the disturbance in fact, making the Jonin look like a Noh actor.

"My, my. My first impression of you all is…"

The tall Jonin lift his head in contemplation a moment, then turned toward them and gave them the finger. Yes, you got it. Not the thumb.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other characters. But I could write a fanfic that say I do.**

* * *

"Hi everyone! As I told you yesterday, this is the real Genin test," said the Jonin instructor.

Naruto actually chuckled at that.

"Another 'real Genin test'. That gets old."

"Haaaa. Yes. I heard of what happened two days ago. Don't worry, that won't change the result of this, even one bit. Know that the chance of failure is sixty-six percent. And I have yet to pass a team. Now. It's eleven o'clock. You have one hour to grab one of those two…"

He showed the round golden balls tied at his belt.

"…bells. For the two who win, a Genin certificate and dinner. The loser is kissed goodbye and back to the Academy. It is starting… now."

At the signal, they all choose a different direction and took off in the trees.

"Nice departure. Maybe there would be have been something to do with them yet. Oh well, too bad they fell on me."

With that, he got a little orange book from his tool pouch and started to read from his uncovered eye.

Naruto left, leaving a trail of broken leaves. Then, he simply disappeared. Sasuke, from his point, felt where Naruto vanished. He used all the stealth he was able to. Being far enough from Kakashi, it had a chance to go unnoticed. He stood at a precise point in the area calculated with their starting point and where Naruto disappeared. Once there, he waited.

* * *

Sakura was hidden in the bushes, looking at Kakashi and his book. She was a little bit panicking. She just got in the dream team! She was already facing expulsion! But how could she take the place of either of them? Who was she kidding? She could not, even if she wanted. They were way too far ahead of her. She felt a little tremor beneath her and all she saw after that was darkness and… well… Naruto.

"What the…?"

"Sssshhh! Not so loud! We may be underground but vibrations can betray us!"

"Yeah."

"Is that you Sasuke?"

"Yeah."

"What's happening?"

"Ok. Who ever heard of the saying 'look underneath of the underneath'?" started Naruto, forcefully patient.

"We did, baka. Stop the lecture. We only have… fifty-four minutes," Sasuke cut him.

"Alright. That's a trap. No matter how you think about this, no Genin alone can outclass a Jonin. That one in particular. He was Anbu Captain before. There is no shitting that guy. So what does he expect us to do? Split up? Team up and then fight the bells among us? What would our team be worth if we fight among ourselves or do things each from our side?"

"So?" asked Sakura, not getting the point.

"Teamwork."

Yep, that was Sasuke. Surprised, huh?

"Teamwork? _That's_ it?"

"Did the idea of coming to ask for our help to get the bells even crossed your mind?" asked Sasuke.

"…"

"Thought so," sighed Naruto. "We… Sasuke and I, have a lot to talk to you about. For now, this team is mine and Sasuke's team and you're just tagging along. You want to be part of the team? You'll have to work for it."

"Yeah... I got it," she answered, dejected.

Her illusion about her dream team crashed down quite hard.

"Don't make that face. You should have seen that one coming. Instead of being the princess waiting to be saved, you're going to be the partner we can count on. Isn't it better?" Naruto said, trying to make her see their view on the matter.

"Yeah… yes. I guess so."

"Well now, put it together, we need a plan and fast! That guy is way over our head but I believe him when he said he will flunk us if we don't get the bells!"

Sakura slapped her cheek twice to wake herself up.

"Okay. First off, we need to know what we are working with. What do you have and what can you do?"

Naruto and Sasuke smiled at this. Where to start from?

* * *

Kakashi was bored. And a little curious. He never expected the two star students of the year to stay away from him. They slipped away from him from the start and kept away from any fighting. Okay, he didn't search very hard for them. He was in an interesting chapter of Icha Icha Paradise. He looked at the clock on the rock.

"Still five minutes and another team down the drain. I will beat a record."

Strangely, he was disappointed. He kinda felt something for those three. He was musing that when a huge fireball came flying straight at him. He jumped over it just to be greeted by another following the first in its dead angle, straight at him.

"Nice," he said just before being engulfed in flame. A smoking log fell on the ground at his place. He reappeared behind Sasuke only to find Naruto ready to punch his light out, palm first. Still surprised they were able to pull that kind of stunt, the masked man stayed on the defence. He didn't know if Naruto had the chakra disrupting touch of the Gentle Fist, which is almost impossible without the Byakugan, but he didn't want to take the chance. Seeing he was getting nowhere, Naruto jumped back. Another fireball went his way.

"This is actually fun! You should have started way…"

But the Jonin was cut off by the fireball exploding apart before it could get to him to gave way to the faster fire dragon controlled by Sasuke. Now Kakashi was in a pinch because even if the blond wasn't that fast, Naruto was cutting a lot of escape routes. The Jonin took off to the trees, trying to get some distance.

As planned.

Kakashi-sensei, the great Anbu Captain, tripped a wire. Half a dozen explosive notes descended on him bungee style on simple ropes. They were all burning up.

"Oh, shit."

He back flipped high just before the explosion. He was caught in a net placed to get him. He cut it up to fall in the range of a fury of punches and kicks. He blocked Naruto, grabbed him by the ankle and shoved him in the fire dragon that had caught up to him. Kunais flew from everywhere. He chose a direction, deflected the metal missiles coming to him while running.

"They actually have me working out a bit."

Sasuke, looking exhausted, Naruto, looking burned, and Sakura, looking desperate, all jumped on him in a last attempt to overrun him with taijutsu. He simply back flipped again. Preparing to land on a tree, his eye widen when the members of team seven vanished in front of him in smoke. Bushins! Then his foot touched the tree. The blanket, replicating the tree trunk pattern, rolled itself around him. Chakra was sticking him to it, stopping him from performing a Kawamiri. One second later, two more blankets wrapped themselves around him. More chakra stuck to him. He felt himself land on the ground. Not too hard. He would not kill them then. Somewhere, on a rock, an alarm clock rang.

"Hum… could you at least uncover my head? Please?" he asked calmly.

Part of the blankets were removed and a grey haired head popped out of a tight Kakashi-roll. A flash blinded him a moment.

"Sorry Sensei, but I _had_ to keep a souvenir," Naruto said, grinning with a camera in hand.

"Now, since we caught the two bells _and_ the one who was tied to them…could we pass? All three of us?" he asked, putting the camera away.

Kakashi, even in that tight (very thigh) spot, saw them standing close to each other. The closeness you allow only to those whom you trust.

"It's no surprise, really, but you three… pass!"

Sakura jumped in the air, cheering while Sasuke went to free their teacher. He simply cut the blankets with a kunai.

"Who came up with this plan?" asked Kakashi.

Sakura raised her hand, a proud smile on her face.

"Nicely done. I bet you're the one who laid the traps too. Very nice. For the boys, I have to say you are above average Genin level. Yes, that is a compliment. If you put work into it, you might even consider a ninja career."

"Thanks Sensei," they said, rolling their eyes.

"It's nothing kids," Kakashi said, messing with Naruto's hair. "Well then, let's meet at the bridge at nine o'clock sharp tomorrow morning. Thank you for the souvenir Naruto-kun, I need a laugh now and then."

Saying this, he disappeared in a puff of smoke with Naruto's camera in hand.

"Hey! That's cheating!" he yelled in the air.

"Awwww… I'm sorry Naruto. I would have loved to show that picture to Ino-pig!" said Sakura, looking disappointed.

"Huh? Oh! No problem! That one had an blank film," Naruto said, waving off.

"What?" asked the strawberry blond, confused.

"Yeah! I took the good one off before he went away with the camera!"

"And I bet he manage to steal it too," said Sasuke smirking.

Naruto searched in his pockets.

"Yep! He did!"

They both laugh quietly.

"What's so funny?" asked Sakura, tired to be left in the dark.

"Well, everything went…" began Naruto.

"…as it was planned," finished Sasuke.

A Bushin of Sasuke climbed down a tree, gave them a numeric camera and then vanished in smoke.

"The flash was a distraction," the raven-haired boy explained. "The film, a decoy. We took a lot of pictures when he was still trapped over his head!"

"But… but… That was a Bushin! An illusion! It cannot take pictures! It is only… smoke!" objected Sakura.

"Well that was not a regular Bushin. That was a Kage Bushin," precised Naruto.

"Yeah. We learned that one just yesterday. It's a physical Bushin. It can really fight, but it can't take much damage before being dispelled. And it take an insane amount of chakra compared to a regular Bushin," explained Sasuke.

"Who taught you that?" asked Sakura, clearly curious now.

"That," said Naruto, "...is a secret. Unless you accept to come with us at Ichiraku for a ramen. Then we will tell you. There, we will tell you about what we expect from you."

Sakura gulped. But she already made her choice when she was underground, making a plan to get the bells.

"Okay. Lead the way. Is a ramen any good?" she complied.

* * *

Once they were seated in the small ramen shop, Ichiraku went to see his two best customers himself.

"The Anikies! Hello there!" he greeted them cheerfully.

"Don't call us that," was heard in stereo.

"And who might be this fine lady?"

"Hi! I'm Haruno Sakura, pleased to meet you! I'm their teammate on the Genin Team Seven."

"Genins hey? Good for you! I saw you two come here often enough so exhausted you could barely lift your chopsticks."

Sakura never realized before how much efforts they could put in training. In her mind, they were just… strong. She always saw them that way.

"The five courses menu for me and a deluxe pack for Sakura! It's on me!" offered naruto graciously.

"No! Why didn't you let Sasuke pay for me?" whinned Sakura.

"Why would I?" deadpanned Sasuke.

Sakura's head just dropped.

"Ok, then, Naruto…"

"No way I'll be the safety wheel!" he said, waving at her dismissively. "That was a one time offer!"

"What?" she said, unbeleivingly.

"Here you go! Miso ramen for Naruto and Sasuke and the special for miss here," said Ichiraku, always as efficient.

Sakura's chagrin was temporarily forgotten by the divine perfume coming out of the steaming bowl.

"Smell good. What's in it?" she asked with interest.

"Now, now! Can't give away my special recipe!" Ichiraku scolded, winking at her.

"Hahem…hum…" was heard from Naruto as he broke his chopstick apart.

"Yes... Well I had a few tips from Naruto for the meat choice…"

"Cough-cough…" made Sasuke as he did the same.

"And some advice from Sasuke for the sauce but everything else is all from me!"

"Yeah," said Naruto, "...the noodles…"

He high-fived Sasuke, who had absently put his hand up in the air. Still, he tried hard to hide a little smirk behind his bowl.

They started eating and Sakura had more of her illusions crushed that day. She was well mannered. That was why she considered Naruto's etiquette as… raw. He didn't burb or slurp, put food everywhere around or anything of the sort. But if a professor in manners was to see this, he would probably turn away, sick at the sheer _speed_ he went at it! It seemed his goal was to put all the noodles, meat, vegetables and sauce in his mouth and swallow it all in one big gulp. She had yet to see him chew.

"Haaa! That is the best!" he said after the content of the first bowl was gone. He just invented the 'ramen shooter' technique.

"What's so different between your miso ramen and his?" asked Sakura, remembering their orders.

"Huh? Nothing," answered the blond, slightly bemused.

"Then why did you call yours the 'five courses'?"

"Ha! Nononono! The five courses is another of my…invention. It's not on the menu. It's one bowl of miso ramen, one of pork, one of chicken, one of beef and one of seafood."

Sakura jaw hung low as he received is second bowl. She was taking her second mouthful. _That's_ where all his energy came from!

After his second bowl, and receiving his third, Naruto put his chopsticks, almost unused, down. It was time for business.

"Sakura," began Sasuke, "...what Naruto is about to tell you about are the conclusion reached by both of us. Don't let… feelings…get in the way. This is serious."

Sakura slowed down. She just lost her appetite. Another test. She feared that one even more than the bells.

"Listen, we know a little bit more now about your strengths and weaknesses. Let me say that we are not impressed… nor are we disappointed. That's more or less what we expected. So here we are: you got to get stronger. A lot. First, physically. Your stamina, strength and speed is kunoichi Genin level. You are a Genin. If you want to stay a Genin, then do nothing. You will execute low level ranked missions until you either give up, find a place in the ninja administration or something. To become a Chunin, you gotta be at least as strong as a Chunin. Same with Jonin, Anbu or to be specially recognized like the three Sannins."

"Yes, that is logical," agreed Sakura.

"Right now, you are blank," Naruto kept out, never chewing his words. "Don't misunderstand me, it is not bad. It can even be an advantage right now. You do not have any speciality yet. You can choose yourself one. You've got one heck of a brain. You can think of something you will totally be good at. Always look at the bigger picture and set the steps to get in it. The problem is that right now, you don't have the minimum of a physical condition to try anything really good. We will set training for you and you will follow it. We have a schedule already planned. You will train with us. Are you okay with this?"

Sakura finished her bowl slowly, set it down and looked at it.

"Yeah. I got it. If you don't mind, I'll go home now," she said in a whisper.

"Okay," nodded Sasuke. "Just one last word: out of all of this, these efforts, you'll gain something. Believe me. Don't see this as a scolding, but as an offer of opportunities."

"Thank you, Sasuke, for actually worrying. I'm gonna be okay. I just need time to think," said the girl, getting up.

She slowly walked toward her home.

"Could it have been better?" asked Naruto, looking at her back until she passed a corner.

"I don't think so. We should understand: it was her little girl dream, after all. Once she finally reached it, it crashed down. "

"Yeah. I was wondering...What do we do about… the little park walk?"

"The…? Oh yeah. We'll have to wait for a break of at least a few days. That's impossible right now. But it'll have to be soon. "

"Hum. Meanwhile, we'll take Sakura to the compound and train her. She's going to have to work with Lee too."

"Let's hope we wont break her."


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Two truths and one lie: I studied in wielding, I never played Farmville, I own all of Naruto's characters, products and right. Anyone who wants to borrow a million bucks can go to hell.**

* * *

The first week was full of surprise for Kakashi, of boredom for Naruto and Sasuke, and hell for Sakura. The masked Jonin, after coming hours late at every single team meeting, was not waited on anymore. When he was finally gracing the Genins with his holy presence, he found them all training, Naruto and Sasuke coaching Sakura. She always ended up spent before the mission. Still, she never complained and went on steadily.

Sasuke and Naruto could only spar with basic techniques in public or some physical training like doing tracks and some chakra control exercises. It was frustrating not to be able to train to their full extend in order to keep their strength a secret. Naruto began to bring a huge leather-bound book with him. He carried it everywhere with a fine brush and jet black ink and would, at every opportunity, sit down and write. When Kakashi asked, he admitted he was making their own explosive notes. The ink in itself was cheapest then the notes. What he wasn't saying was that he didn't want anyone suspicious about why he needed so much explosive tags.

The missions were even more boring. The way they got through them that was surprising though. One day, they had to weed a garden. Naruto made a weird jutsu that made the good plants uproot the bad ones. The disturbing thing was how violently they did so.

The next day, they were to help with delivery. They put all their heart to it. It was surprising the cream in the groceries bags did not turn to butter. They made a day's job in two hours. In the end, the manager wasn't glad or upset since they got there four hours late thanks to Kakashi.

Then they had to clean a field. They made the judicious use of a mini-tornado jutsu to gather the trash and burned them within it with a fire jutsu. Seeing the raging and twisting inferno, Naruto and Sasuke looked at themselves with wide-eyes. Then they high-fived, laughing knowingly. That was a killer combo jutsu!

The next day, that very field had to be ploughed for the next crops. Thanks Kami for the Kage Bushin.

The mission that upset Kakashi the most, at the end of the week, was to catch Tora, the Fire Lord wife's cat. Tora came back happy and purring. The matron was quite pleased. What she didn't know was that Naruto put a genjutsu on Tora that changed Kakashi, to his eyes, in a heat stroke female. He very willingly ran up to him, trying to mate.

Then, the week-end came. Then another week. A month went by. Then another. And then Naruto's and Sasuke's patience fled to the south for winter. Sakura's own patience caught up with them. Unknowingly, her character changed to fit Sasuke's and Naruto's. But it was mostly her own inner self that was coming out.

"Team Seven. Your mission today will be…" said the Hokage, while searching in the pile of ranked 'D' missions.

"Oh no, old man! Pull out another D-rank again and I set your damn hat on fire!"

The room felt silent, even Sakura, who still had her finger pointing the Hokage, a stunned expression on her face about her own outburst. Then, the Hokage let out a quiet laugh.

"A Haruno who speaks her mind…Finally. Take care of this one Kakashi," mumbled Sarutobi.

He took a 'C'-ranked scroll and tossed it to the Jonin.

"You can come in, Tazuna, I've got your team," said the Hokage, raising his voice.

An unshaved man, drinking sake directly from a jug, entered the room.

"Two bums, a flat-chest girl and a grown bum? That's my team Hokage-sama?" he said, drinking from a sake bottle.

"Don't worry Tazuna-san," said a bowing Naruto, we are most capable of defending you against bandits."

"What if we encounter more?" asked tazuna, suspicious.

"Do you expect more?" asked Naruto, raising an eyebrow.

"Of… of course not!" the bridge maker answered, taking a step back.

"Then there is no need to worry," assured Naruto.

"Tazuna-san…" began a frowning Hokage.

" We'll be going now! See ya old man!" said Naruto quickly.

He pulled and pushed Tazuna rather forcefully out of the room, followed by Sasuke, still a hand on Sakura's mouth, dragging her effortlessly after being called 'flat-chest'. They walked out of the tower and agreed to meet by the town's gate in two hours. They got everything they needed for long-term mission and went back to a still drinking Tazuna. By the speed he went at it… they hoped he didn't have a spare jug. Kakashi finally asked Naruto what was on his mind.

"Annooo… What was that about Naruto-kun?" asked Kakashi to Naruto discreetly.

"You're the teacher. Figure it out!" said Naruto smugly.

They were out of earshot from Tazuna, in the forest, when Kakashi spoke his mind.

"Well… Tazuna is hiding something about the level of the mission and you stopped the Hokage from finding out exactly what. So my guess is that you hope that there will be ninjas involved and that it will increase the rating of this mission. That would be shown in your record for the eventual bi-annual Chunin exam, and it will give a bigger pay check."

"What?" asked Naruto, looking up at his sensei. "You think too far. It'll be fun!"

Kakashi sweatdropped. Fun?

Sasuke ended in the rear guard with Naruto while Sakura went up ahead. Kakashi was talking with Tazuna about some 'Paradise' of sort.

"So?" asked Sasuke.

"He guessed. He's good," said Naruto, nodding.

"He's a genius. We knew that."

"We're not exactly stupid either."

"But he feign taking us for it. He want us to think he underestimate us."

"Ooooh. So that we try to show him off," said Naruto, understanding hitting him.

"Yeah," acknowledged Sasuke.

"Thanks. I would have fallen for that one."

"I know. That's why I'm telling you. Eventually, we'll have to show our stronger side."

"Yeah, I know, Aniki. But it became almost second nature to hide it, you know?"

"You saw that?" interrupted Sasuke suddenly.

"Yeah. Give them ten seconds. They'll target sensei first anyway."

"The fun begin already," smirked Sasuke.

"Time to show off then. A little," agreed Naruto.

Two bladed chains wrapped themselves around Kakashi and ripped him to shred. Sakura shouted at the sight but jumped protectively in front of Tazuna. The old man barely had the time to turn around to see a log fall to the ground in pieces, so sudden was the attack. Two heavy-gloved ninja, with chains flying around, hurled themselves at Naruto and Sasuke. Those two still haven't got their hands out of their pockets. Then they disappeared, leaving only a little cloud of dust where they were. They reappeared behind each other's assailants and kick them on the side of the head. Simultaneously. The enemy nins had the time to spin only half-way around before they were kicked, once more, in the ass this time. _Hard_. They simply flew at each other, the impact making a sickening crunch. They impaled each others with their claws so hard that their insides were spilling on the ground… from their back.

"Now that's a truly pathetic end. To die from a kick in the ass," Naruto said evenly.

Kakashi, jumping from his perch, sweatdropped again. He felt he would do this a lot from now on. Sakura looked sick.

"How are you faring, Sasuke, Naruto?" the Jonin asked, walking toward them.

They looked at each other. Emotions played very fast on their faces but without his sharingan on, they were too fast to be caught. They were destined to each other anyway. They turned back to Kakashi, their masks well in place.

"A ninja must never show any emotions. It's in the books, sensei," Sasuke answered.

Naruto nodded at Sasuke's single statement.

"Hummm. Alright then. While we're stopped, we'll take a break. Naruto, Sakura, search the bodies. Sasuke, come with me. We have to talk to Tazuna-san."

"Don't be too hard on him sensei! The mission is getting interesting!" Naruto said exitedly.

Kakashi face-faulted. Never show any emotion, eh?

Sakura, at first, didn't even want to touch the bodies. They made an impossible pattern on the ground, dripping blood that splattered a few feet around. Naruto took things in charge. He would not do all the work. She had to learn to deal with this.

"Sakura..."

"I can't! He's… dead! And still hot! And bloody! It's still pouring out of him! How…"

"Calm down," Naruto said, interrupting her.

He took her in his arms from behind.

"What are you…?"

"Shhhh. You're panicking. We'll do this together. Kakashi sent you to do this on purpose. He knows that you would have difficulties with killing and stuff."

He kneeled down with her in front of the body, his arm still circling hers.

"He's dead. You're right. His soul left his body already. There is nothing to fear from a body."

"If it's trapped…"

"He's not and you know it. We didn't find him like that. We killed him."

Sakura shivered.

"I know," whispered Naruto. "We took two men's life. You'll be expected to do the same when the time comes. Did you like training with us? Hanging out?"

"What does it have to do with this?" she asked, shaking.

"Answer me, please."

"Well… yeah. Yes. It was… different. You never made fun of me. I even… don't laugh okay? I even felt you two respected me and my strength. I, myself, have a lot more self-respect than I used too and I feel better."

"Of course we respect you. You made the effort to be part of the team. Ninja is a disturbing job. We have to see past the first image people have about things. Like death. What we have before us is like a rock. A house. A log. A glass of water. A cloud."

"How come?"

"It's not alive. Don't see it as a dead body of someone but as something that is simply not alive."

Naruto took one of her hand and gently made her touch the back of the body. He kept it there a while. When she began to shake less, he made her touch what is usually considered gross on a dead body. The blood on the ground, the laying intestine, the inside of the mouth, the glassy eyes and then he made her take his vest off. At this point, he got up and went to the other body.

"Search everywhere for anything."

Sakura nodded and went back to business. She only wrinkled her nose at the smell. Naruto smiled softly at her. She was brave. He was proud. He hid his own trembling hand covered in blood. He didn't feel any compassion for the guy, but it was his first time dealing with a dead body too.

For all the trouble, they found an oil pouch for the claws, some explosives notes that Naruto put in his book, a few feet of steel wire and a flash bomb. Of course, there was the clothes and the chained gloves.

Tazuna was white when Kakashi and Sasuke came back from the_ talk_.

"Sasuke-kun…You're sure you're not the long-lost son of Ibuki-san?" asked Kakashi mildly.

"Shut up. He was being stubborn," answered the raven-haired ninja.

"Even then… Naruto! Sakura! Go clean yourself. That's disgusting. Found anything?"

"The usual tools. Nothing else. They must be part of a larger group."

"They are but that was not a given. They were Chunin level after all. Those are the _Demon Brothers_."

"You are totally shitting us, right?" said Naruto, unbeleiving. "I mean, it's great for the bonus, but still! Chuunin level?"

"They were! All Chunins are not as strong as in Konoha!" argued Kakashi, his hand before him.

Sakura gladly went to clean herself. She felt dirty. She washed her hand hard but the phantom trace of the blood would not come off. Naruto had plunged his entire head in the little water stream they found. Then he checked his clothing and judged they could do without a wash for a while. He stared at Sakura, still washing slowly but harshly her hand and arms. Naruto took a soap bar and tosses it at her.

"Here. That's for the bloodstains. Nothing resists that stuff."

"Really?"

"Hell yeah."

She took it gratefully and washed herself once again. After the rinse, she sighed in delight. The blood was gone. She felt better. What she didn't know was that that soap had a hyper-hydrating formula, which was what made her feel better. Naruto gave her a placebo and it worked wonderfully.

She was about to give him the soap back but then…

"Haaaaaa! You manage to put blood in you hair!"

Naruto didn't have the time to protest that his head was duck in the water and his hair scrubbed rather forcefully with his own soap.

"Don't worry! I'll get it off!"

Having his head in the water and his hand flying around, Naruto didn't hear her. They finally got back, Sakura proud of herself and Naruto rubbing his head painfully.

"So… what do we do now?" asked the leader of their team.

"Hun? What do you mean Kakashi-sensei?"

"Well the mission is not as it was explained. We should go back to the village since there are really ninjas after him. We were not paid for that."

"Bullshit. Adjustment can be done. Yo! Taz! If we get you safe to build your bridge, you're gonna make more money, right?" shouted Naruto.

"Yes," did he say with a dark look. He was afraid to lose all help at this point.

"Then everything is fine!" Naruto waved off.

Sasuke rolled his eyes but started walking on the road alongside of Naruto who was already off. Sakura meant to follow them but stayed on Tazuna's side. Kakashi took the rear guard. It look like his team was going headfirst in to troubles.

* * *

They walked some more, less merry and more attentive. Kakashi wasn't even reading his book. Naruto and Sasuke even had their hands out of their pockets! Sakura knew they were serious now. No more kids games. This was not training. This was what they enlisted for. Missions, dangers, deaths. Then why did that shiver on her back wasn't totally unpleasant? She wondered if her reason wasn't affected by the split ear-to-ear grin that the two other Genins wore.

Leaves rustled up in the tree a moment before the yell of Kakashi to...

"GET DOWN!"

Sakura and Tazuna bent over. Kakashi did too. But not Sasuke nor Naruto. The sword caught them right at mid-level. In fact, it would be more precise to say that the baggy-short duo caught the sword at mid-level. They did skid a few feet from the impact, but they didn't seem hurt at all.

"Cool! A new toy!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Alright. You can try it first. Sheesh," said Sasuke, rolling his eyes at Naruto who was almost drolling.

"I do? Yatttaaaaa! Thanks Aniki!"

A grey-white masked ninja cleared his throat. He was standing on a tree branch, looking annoyed. He wore metal arm protectors, black pants and some light body armor.

"I won't stoop so low as to ask for my weapon back put shouldn't you bring your own on a mission?"

"Be careful boys!" Kakashi said loudly. "That's Zabuza, the demon of Hidden Mist! He's a Jonin level missing nin!"

Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other. Sasuke took something in his pouch. He and Naruto put on the sunglasses that never left the top of their heads and Sasuke threw a flash bomb in the air as if it was the most natural thing to do. A moment, Zabuza was half-blinded by a crude light he didn't have time to completely block. The next, he was cut in two by his own sword that Naruto wielded. Water fell down at the same time that Naruto touched the ground.

"Watch out Naruto! That was a Mizu Bushin!" yelled Sakura.

"A what?"

Then he was cut in two by Zabuza who appeared from nowhere with a kunai. The Kage Bushin dispelled.

"Ooooh! A _mizu_ Bushin! Why didn't you say so?" said Naruto, walking from behind a tree. He tossed the sword to Sasuke.

"Your turn! That one is fun to play with!"

Now Kakashi really had questions about his team's abilities. He prepared himself to jump in the fray if needed, but neither Naruto nor Sasuke seemed stressed. He decided to wait and see.

Sakura too stood ready, but wasn't going forward for another reason. She knew she was totally outclassed. It was funny to notice now but didn't she always saw Naruto and Sasuke with armbands or bracelets on?. When did they take them off? Anyway, she promised herself right there she would battle the next adversary that would be near her level. She would not stay a deadweight.

Sasuke walked up to Zabuza slowly. When he was about ten meters from him he threw the sword with all his strength, spinning, right at Zabuza. He then put his hand together and made a seal. The sword doubled in speed. The missing nin decided against catching it and simply dodged. He looked back ahead… to see his sword coming right at him! Genjutsu! He managed to dodge it again but it left a bloody trail up his arm. Then the dark eyed teenager, who had jump toward him, landed a huge slap on the side of his head. The genjutsu hid is movement for a second too! The boy finished with a back flipped kick on the jaw. Zabuza's mask ripped apart and a few teeth went loose.

Zabuza jumped out of reach but landed on his back. He tried to get back up but fell down again. Damn! The kid hit his balance center with his slap! He didn't wait it came back and made seals at a breakneck speed. On the last one, he rolled on his side, touching the top of the water of the lake he landed next to.

"Suiton: Water Dragon Blast Technique!"

The construct of water burst out of the surface of the lake as if he was hiding there all along, waiting to be released. Zabuza moved a little, just turning his head to be sure no to lose his target from sigh. He was hoping to get rid of him, or at least wound him. The teeth of the mythical water beast were sharp enough to cut whole trees.

Sasuke was thrilled! He had the upper hand on a Jonin! Okay, he was not a Konoha's Jonin, and the guy was probably underestimating him from the start. Still! He swiftly made handseals for one of his specialty.

"Katon: Dragon Fire Technique"

Sasuke didn't try and be subtle there. He shoved the fire dragon right at the water one. Both of them disappeared in steam that rolled off on the earth, hiding everything from view.

Zabuza was happy. This was his strength. He didn't even have to call the mist himself! He managed to get up. He saw a clouded figure approach him. He jumped on it before it could react and stroked it with a closed fist. It vanished. Simply. No smoke, no "poof", no nothing. He heard something behind him. He turned around, striking at the source of the noise. Once again, he felt only air. A bad chill went down his back. Where were they? How come those kids could find him while he could not trace the young pricks? He heard multiple little noises around him that betrayed many clone's positions. He threw a kunai at each of them. All projectiles found something metallic. How could _he_ be surrounded? Then he saw him. The little punk dared walk to him, smirking, holding all his kunaïs. He juggled with them, throwing one near Zabuza's face, nearly scratching him. His balance was back but he had a better idea than to move from his spot. Let him approach just a little bit closer…

Then the black-haired teen jumped at him, a kunai in each hand, aiming for his neck. He had plenty of time to put his handseals together.

"Water Prison Technique!"

He shot his hand straight on the chest of the Leaf menace and bound him instantly in a bubble of water that touched the surface of the lake. He allowed himself a brief smile. He would have allowed himself to keep it if a steel wire had not circled his neck. He strained his neck muscle to keep himself from choking, but the pressure applied on the wire was not enough from the start. Unnatural wind picked up and he could see the blond at the other end of the wire.

"Release me or I kill that little roaster with my last strengths," threatened the Mist missing ninja.

"Go ahead, that's a Bushin."

To prove it, the clone in the water balloon vanished in smoke. It was fun to see the smoke of a bushin trapped in a bubble of water. Zabuza was stunned. They put him on his knees! They manage to capture him!

"What do we do now? I'm sure he doesn't want to finish his life here and now. Even with his low performance today, he's still Zabuza of the Mist," said Naruto.

"If you don't kill me now, I'll get you eventually," the enemy nin replied.

"That guy really got a death wish. Doesn't he have a happy life? Wanna talk about it?" asked him Naruto. "Did you have a sad childhood? Didn't your mother breastfeed you? My guess, with those teeth of yours, is that she didn't."

Zabuza growled, right before receiving two senbons in the neck. If he would not have been tied by the throat, he would have fell face down on the ground. He should be grateful for the small thing now, should he? A small ninja jumped down a tree and got to the limp body.

"Thank you for stopping him. I've been after him for a while," the small, masked ninja said.

"You're a Mist Anbu," stated Kakashi.

"Yes. I'll take care of the body now," he stated, cutting Naruto's wire.

"Wait! You just show up and then leave with the body?" protested Sakura. "Sasuke and Naruto did all the work! It's them who should get the reward for catching him!"

"Now, now, Sakura," scolded Kakashi. "Mist Anbu have priorities over for Mist missing nins. You would not want to start a conflict between our hidden villages over a corpse now, do you?"

Sakura crossed her arm and pouted.

"Still it's not fair."

The Anbu didn't seem to know what to say to that. He took the body under one armpit and simply jumped away.

"Thank, Sakura, for defending our interest!" said Naruto, smilling. "We didn't though about that at first. We'll just lodge a claim for Zabuza's bounty at the Mist village."

"It's just so unfair!" she huffed, throwing her hands down. "Your battle was awesome! Just how strong are you?"

"He just happened to underestimate us," said Sasuke non-comittedly. "If he had not, it would have been a lot more… challenging."

They started on the road again. Tazuna looked at them with newfound respect. He didn't know what kind of man Gato had at his side, but that one must have been amongst the strongest. He had more than a fighting chance now. He even had good hope in a total victory!

"So… Those two. They are your partners or…?" he asked Kakashi on a conversation tone.

"They are my students," the jonin stated proudly.

"What, you're stronger?" asked the bridge-maker.

"Very much so."

Tazuna had a smile for the rest of the trip. Sakura went to see Naruto and Sasuke that walked further in front of the group this time, not expecting anymore attack for a while.

"You've been talking a lot since we encountered that Zabuza guy. What's up?" asked Sakura, curious.

"That wasn't an Anbu that got him. That's probably one of his allies," stated Sasuke.

Now Sakura was surprised. On wha tbases did they state that? Kakashi, always having an ear out, explained the reasoning the Brothers came to.

"He was using senbons, which is not the style of a fighter but more of a medic-nin. Anbu are fighters, killers. Period. He only needed the head as a proof. A Mist Anbu would have simply cut it off."

"Then why letting him go?" she asked

"So we can battle him later," grinned Naruto.

Sakura threw her hand in the air, giving up. But she could not stop a smile to get to her lips.

They got to the bridge, which was not a simple amount of plank. It was huge and even if it wasn't finished, it lost itself in the afternoon fog. It was a strange place. Who ever heard of an afternoon fog? They went to Tazuna's house to be greeted by a grateful daughter and an angry-lethargic grandson.

"He's quite the little sunshine, is he?" said the blond, pointing the whinning young boy who huffed and left the house.

"Naruto!" scolded him his teammate.

"What? You heard him yourself Sakura. _Why are you even bothering, you're all gonna die_. What kind of mindset is that?"

"Don't blame him" Tazuna said, "He have had a hard time. His father…at least the one who he was looking up to, was killed by Gato and his men. He became like that shortly after. Kaiza-san was optimistic and swore to him to protect this land with his own strength. When he died, Inari lost all hope for this place."

Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other. Naruto had angry eyes. Surprisingly, Sasuke tapped his arm lightly and went outside, following the path Inari took earlier when he went out.

"You aren't going, Naruto?" asked his sensei, figuring he would be the one doing the talking.

"Nan… Kakashi-sensei. I better not. I might yell a bit too much at him. Sasuke's more in control of his emotion. He can do this. If he can't… I'll go and ring some bells in the kid's head."

"Don't scare the grandson of the customer. He hasn't paid yet," said Kakashi, amused.

* * *

Since the contract was to protect the bridge until it was done building, Team Seven decided to give them a hand to speed things up a bit. Progresses were astounding from then on. It seems to help to have workers who can multiply, lift whole beams by themselves and shot killer look or hostile intent to anybody talking about quitting. The motivation was sky high. They had something more dangerous to be scared than Gato now.

Even Inari changed a little. He took to watching them work, a pensive look on his face. When Kakashi asked Sasuke what he told Inari, he answered simply: "My life." He wasn't sure how Inari could still find sleep after such a tale, but it seems to bear its fruits. Tazuna even caught him looking at his little muscles in front of a mirror. He began to understand. You want something done? Do it yourself. That's what Kaiza did, and he died content. Inari slowly began to smile more. He took part in the construction, even if it was only to hand the tools to the workers.

One day, a child asked for food to Naruto while they were buying supplies. The blond ninja was with Tazuna. What they saw on the shelves disturbed him. Didn't they have crops? How come that child was forced to beg to eat? He went to the rice merchant, the young kid in tow. The man only had two bags left. Naruto grabbed the child and told him to bring other children who were hungry like him. He got his wallet out and simply bought what was left. It was way more expensive than any rice should be paid for, but he didn't care. When the child got back, followed by many more, he put the rice into smaller bags and gave it to them, telling them to bring that to their mothers to cook. Some of them looked delighted. Most of them looked crestfallen. The first one who asked him for food pulled on his sleave, a sad look in his eye.

"If I don't have a mommy, do I have to give it back?"

Naruto wanted to cry right there and then.

"For those who don't have a mommy, follow me! I don't have one either!" he yelled.

He started to walk down the road, a dozen kids following him around. He got to the vegetable stand and bough a few more things. He had his arms full when he got back to Tazuna.

"Kid. Your heart is at the right place. But even if you give them food today, they will still be hungry tomorrow. And then…"

"Then _what_ Tazuna-san?" hissed Naruto. "Even if there are more kids tomorrow, those of today will have eaten something! They will fare a little longer. They will have a few moments where their stomachs will feel so full it would burst! That's what it's going to do. When I'll be gone, when this place will fill itself with people, money, food, work and everything that make a town a good place to live, I expect you and the townsfolk to take care of those less fortunate. It will be your responsibility. They are hungry tomorrow? Give them soup. The day after? Give them bread. The day after that? Give them boiled vegetables. Got it?"

Tazuna could do nothing else but to nod dumbly. He never thought about it this way. Yes, he knew the basic: feed a child one day and he will bother you for the next week. Naruto opened his eyes that the child who were fed one day will be hungry the next. As anybody would.

Naruto made a bunch of clones and set them to work. They made the boiler for the rice and vegetables from bamboo he cut himself. He started a fire and set some flat rocks over it for the hand-made boiler and entertained the kids with acrobatics moves and ninja sparing matches between clones. His audience was delighted! They where having the time of their life! For a moment, they forgot they were homeless, without parents and in dirty old clothes. They never forgot they were hungry though, since they smelt the food from the pots getting ready was getting better by the minutes.

"Food's ready! Wash your hand in the water buckets or you get nothing!" yelled Naruto, having found an apron somewhere.

Clean hands presented themselves to eat with freshly made wooden bowls. They ate and laugh as some clones were still doing some tricks now and then. Once they were finished eating, the clones told them to wash their bowls. When they were presented clean enough, their names were kunai-carved in them and given back. They were awed. They were crudely and hastily made, out of very ordinary wood. But it was theirs. The surprise didn't end there. The clones lead them in the proximity of the village were a new building stood. Like the bowl, it was made of freshly cut wood. The design was simple to be generous and the ground was still on barren earth. But like the bowls, that place was now theirs to live in. There were only four rooms in it, but it was vast enough for them all. Mattress made of straw waited for them. After that good a meal and so much laugh, they all went to bed, yawning.

Naruto watched them, waving at the 'Thank you nii-chan' he got on the way.

'Yes.' he though 'That's what a big brother would do.'

He was covered with sand and grime. His hands were red from the rushed manual work. He had the help of his clone but they could do only so much. He had to work really, really fast to get it done while the kid were eating. He got back at Tazuna's place, tired and emotionally drained. Nobody asked where he had been. They saw. That's how the fourth day ended. The brigde was to be finished the fifth.

The next morning, Kakashi told his other teammates to let Naruto sleep. It was no sense to have him exhausted on the bridge. Sasuke had a pensive and envious look in his face.

"I wonder how it feels…"

"How does what feel, Sasuke-kun?" asked Sakura.

"To be called… nii-chan."

She didn't have any answer to that. She only took his hand and squeezed it a little. He smiled at her a little, before putting the mask back on. She let his hand go. She knew that's as close she could get to him. She understood why he built that wall around him. She was envious of Naruto too, not because of the attention from the children, but to be able to be so close to the real Sasuke.

The bridge, when they got there, was surrounded in fog. Thick, sound-absorbing and chilling fog.

"He's back," whispered Sakura.

"No, Sakura-chan" countered Kakashi, "_They_ are back."

Two forms could be guessed in the thick mist.

"Yo. Did I miss anything?" said a blond, dropping from a long jump at their side.

"Naruto! Weren't you sleeping?" asked Sakura to her fresh looking teammate.

"Yeah, but noises downstairs woke me up. Inari tried to take on two shitty samurai and got his ass handed to him. Gotta give him that, he never backed down to them. Even got one on the shin with his sieve helmet."

"What happened to them?" asked Kakashi.

"Me," deadpanned Naruto with a deadly look.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Copy Ninja Kakashi" said one shadow in the mist. "Will you let your underling fight for you again?"

"I don't know, Zabuza-chan, they did well last time," answered Kakashi.

The silence they got back proved one thing: Kakashi already managed to have him pissed.

"You took him by surprise! That's the only reason..." began a juvenile voice.

"SHUT UP Haku! Know your place!"

"Hai, Zabuza-sama. Sumimasen."

"Your servant seems smarter than you, Zabuza-baka. He knew when to flee," Kakashi kept pushing.

Naruto wasn't that much interested in a fight anymore. The evil those two were doing, probably for money, disgusted him.

"I've got an idea!" he said. "Why don't we bet? I bet our Sakura-chan can beat your Haku-san! If he can beat her, we leave this place! If she does best him, you leave this place. I don't care about getting your reward anymore. Seeing you make me sick."

Kakashi looked at Naruto with his eye wide. He never agreed to that! Even if that Haku was weaker that Zabuza, that was not saying much!

"Naruto…" he began darkly.

"Don't worry Kakashi-sensei. Sakura's a big girl," said Naruto off-handly.

"I want to do this, Sensei," Sakura said, her face a mask of resolve.

Kakashi turned to the only girl of the team. She was serious. She didn't want to be left behind. He scratched his head sighing.

"I agree to your bet, blond punk! Get ready to dig her grave!" spoke Zabuza from his mist.

"Go drown yourself. That will prevent you the humiliation. Now tell your boy-toy to get his ass over here and meet Sakura half-way. The battle will begin when they want," countered Naruto.

Sakura walked at a fast pace toward the enemy nin. The one named Haku jumped from his pillar he was standing on and landed in front of her. He haven't changed one bit from the last time they saw him. They heard Zabuza shout a technique. Kakashi stood ready. A green mist appeared behind them.

"This will prevent any intrusions! That corrosive mist will dissolve anybody that goes into it!" gloated Zabuza. "In fact, it could eat the wood and rock of the bridge in about… twenty minutes I say. If you try to disperse it, even a little emanation breathed will kill the villagers on the other side."

"Kick his ass Sakura! Don't hesitate! NEVER!" yelled Naruto.

Sakura knew what it meant. If she had to kill him to win, she'll do it. No pulled punch.

She was standing, kunai ready in front of the masked impostor. He carried a senbon.

"From now on, you will only be able to dodge," he said as a greeting.

Then, he disappeared.

* * *

**Wow. A cliffhanger. That's my first! Liked it? It was fun to write.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other characters related. I hate spicy sausages too. Just so you know.**

* * *

Then Haku disappeared.

'Fast!' though Sakura. But it was not _too_ fast. She turned left, blocking the senbon with her kunai. Her hand was shaking from her effort, but surprisingly, she was not giving in much to Haku. Now, she knew she was a little weaker then him. She would have to use her speed. She disengaged and started her own attack. As soon as her weapon met her adversary's, she changed angle and launch another one. Trust, stab, down swipe and uprising move succeeded at a very fast pace. Now it was Haku on the defence.

"Are you attacking me with such ferocity because you realised you can't win?" he asked from behind his mask.

Sakura absently heard the words. Her first reaction was to smile.

"Your taunt are nothing compared to Sasuke's," she mocked.

Haku slammed his senbon toward her head. Hard. She barely blocked and had to use both her hand to push back.

"Now that your hands are full, it's over."

He began to made one-handed seals. The boys from team Seven looked at that, jaw-slacked.

"Hell no you won't!"

Sakura forced chakra in her leg and pushed upward, deflecting the enemy weapon to the side. She used her momentum to head-butt him, sending him stumbling backward. She didn't lose a moment and hit him square in the chest with her fist, followed by an Academy winner kick to the head. He went rolling on the ground. Naruto was cheering loudly while Sasuke was just smiling.

Haku woke up, his mask crumbling. You could already see a bleeding lip. He used both hands for a complicated series of seal. Sakura ran up to him, hoping to interrupt again, but it was too late.

"Demonic Ice Mirror."

From the air came a chill and all around her materialized just that, ice mirrors. Haku jumped back and fused into one of them. His image appeared on each of the nine mirrors circling her.

"It's over," stated Zabuza from his pillar. "Nobody can escape this technique. That's his bloodline. I trained him personally. You should give up while she's alive."

"Did you hear that, Sakura?" shouted Naruto. "Zabuza-chan said you should give up and let the big boys take care of this. What do you say? Wanna spend your days chasing Tora again?"

Sakura was shaking from the cold, the fear and something else she had trouble recognizing. The little jab from Naruto made her fear evaporate. If he cared to joke around, he knew she could do it. Her fear gone, she manage to identify the remaining feeling that made her shake. A mix of anticipation and… excitement!

"The hell with that flee-furred ball! This is so much more fun!" she yelled.

Sasuke let out a low laugh.

"So… She awakened," he whispered.

"She sure did," agreed naruto.

"Who awakened?" asked Kakashi, now lost.

"Her inner-self," began Naruto.

"Her violent-self," kept on Sasuke.

"Her ninja side."

"Her combative spirit."

"Her second personality."

"That just fused with the original one."

"We worked hard to make it come out."

"And we saw the premise of it in the Hokage office."

"A bloodline of Ice Mirror? Pff-heh."

"Let them taste the awakening of a spirit of wild fire!"

Kakashi was turning his head from one to another as they were speaking in turns. Seeing them finish and complete each other ideas was an amazing and quite disturbing sight.

Back to Sakura, she began molding chakra in herself. Simple raw energy to add to the next technique she would have to use. Sasuke come up with that in a situation where you have to wait for an attack. Unfortunately, she wasn't prepared for that kind of speed. Haku attacked twice, as the two senbons embedded in her left arm and leg proved. She moved to take them off but had a better idea. Still, she had begun the movement. She touched one and winced, one eye closed, as if the pain was too much as if the pain of her constant bruises from her taijutsu training session were any less painful… right! She had to provoke him more than that. That could prove dangerous. Unless…

She made handseals and put her hand to her mouth.

"Katon: Grand Fireball!"

The ball of fire, perfectly executed, hit a mirror head-on. She kept it on for a while, and then stopped, looking exhausted. Half of the mirror remained. She took a step forward but the mirror regenerated itself. A new blur of attacks mauled on Sakura's body. She raised her arms across her face just in time but she was still covered of senbon after the attack. When it ceased, she looked at the dozen of needles puncturing her. A dozen and not even one near a vital spot. He was good, as expected. She smiled behind her arms. She had him. That would be tricky. And painful. But it could work.

"Ha! That's all you can do, frosty? I'm sure I saw you slow down on that last one! I may look like a pincushion…"

Absent-mindedly, she realised it must have been Naruto who did that one with the hedgehog and the pincushion…focus!

"…but I bet you can't do it again!" she finished confidently.

"Really? What do you bet on that?" asked the boy's reflection from nine mirrors.

"Victory," she whispered.

"I'm in," he immediatly said.

What they saw from the outside would forever be carved in Kakashi's memory. They felt the beginning of Haku's attack. They heard the ear-splitting scream of Sakura. Then they saw Haku thrown back under one of his mirror, skidding and rolling, pierced by a good number of senbons. The mirrors cracked and fell, giving a good view of Sakura. She had her head still thrown toward the sky in a scream, her breathing hard, her fist balled at the end of her extended arms. It was as if her shout pushed Haku away.

Naruto whistled.

"Nice. A massive chakra outburst on each of the senbons piercing her. Haku must have been close and received them as they were forced out of Sakura's body, like a hedgehog."

"Like a hedgehog?" asked Sasuke, raising an eyebrow.

"Oops. You think she figured it out it was me?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Do I even want to know?" sweat-dropped Kakashi.

Naruto looked at him, arms crossed.

"Nevermind. Look like we won! Haku won't get back up. Not with Sakura punching his light out through his mask. Sakura! It's okay! I think he's unconscious now. Let him go Sakura! Let him… yes…that's it…good girl. Now breathe. That's it. Watch him but don't kill him just yet."

Zabuza was fuming. How could Haku lose to some Leaf's damn Genin! He wasn't having any of this.

"So, Zabuza-kun. Now you…" began Kakashi, looking at the remaining enemy.

But the masked swordsman cut him off with a fury of seals.

"Suiton: Grand Waterfall!"

A deluge of unstopping water flew from his impossible wide mouth. They could not avoid it. Kakashi, Sasuke and Naruto glued their feet to the ground with chakra, withstanding the water assault. Haku, unconscious, and Sakura, exhausted, were swept from the bridge.

* * *

Sakura groaned as reality dawned on her. She was feeling cold and numb and wet and painful and… wasn't she fighting just moments ago? She opened her eyes to see a wet boy at her side getting up painfully. She forced her limb to move and got back up, a kunai ready.

"HuuUuunn," groaned the boy.

"Yeah, me too," agreed Sakura, smiling.

It was fun to see an ice user freeze. Seemed he haven't seen her yet. He slowly got a senbon from behind his back and put it in front of him. He peeled off the rest of his useless mask.

'Wow. He's cute,' she could not stop to think. This would not stop her to stab his heart if the need be.

"Zabuza… the bridge…" mumbled Haku.

He turned his head carefully, looking up at the bridge where faint battle noises could be heard. He broke in a run, climbing the steep sandy hill that leaded from the beach they landed on to the mainland. Sakura followed, running behind him to cut any escape route. She didn't have to bother though, the unmasked nin was going straight for the bridge. Sakura, even with her newly developed speed and stamina, could not compete with the fear that gripped Haku's mind.

He ran on the bridge, not caring of the villager that sent him dark look, but unable to stop him. He absently noticed the lack of corrosive fog, probably dissipated by the water attack. But he stopped dead in his track at the next sight. The ones called Naruto and Sasuke were grabbing Zabuza's arms on each side, keeping him from struggling, and the one called Kakashi had his arm through his chest.

"No. Nooooo. NOOOOO! Zabuza-samaahaaaa…"

At the shout, the three murderer ninja let the body fall to the floor. Haku was spread on his chest the next moment.

"No! Nonononoooo. Zabuza-sama… Please…"

The demon of the mist opened unblinking eyes toward the child he raised and cared for the last nine years or so.

"Useless…tool…"

Then he was gone. Haku was in shock. He absently took a kunai that lay there and directed a stab right at his throat. His deathwish was not to be granted that day. A hand caught the sharp blade, at the risk of losing a few finger. It pulled the weapon roughly. Naruto wiped his own blood off the knife and hanged it with the other at his belt.

"You are not to die, Haku-san. You do not have the right at the moment."

"WHY?" he pleaded from the ground.

"Because Zabuza-san left you with a burden. A debt to be repaid. He being dead just add to it. You'll have to make it up for him. For that, you'll have to live unless you want Zabuza's honor and soul to be left dirtied and soiled in a way that even hell cannot punish."

"What debt?" said Haku, in a soft, creaking voice. He just wanted to join his master.

"His bet. He gave his word that he and you would retreat if you lost your fight. You were bound by his oath. He broke it when seeing your uncontested loss. He tried to harm the incoming civil. We are ninja, even if we become mercenary or murderers. We stay true to our village or to our belief. We always stay ninja and our word is absolute. Zabuza went over it. You need to pay his debt or this bad karma will follow you and him into the next world, into your next life. So, from now on you will follow me. You will obey my command as I take responsibility of you in the eye of my village. My first order is to live. My second is to follow me. Now."

Naruto turned his back on him and started walking. Kakashi was frowning heavily. He didn't like it at all. He would have a word with his student about taking too much initiative.

The villagers, seeing them victorious, cheered loudly. Some were curious as to why an enemy was still alive, but since he was now following the blond ninja two step behind him, head lowered, they didn't ask questions. Haku didn't even question why he was following that boy either. He was used to follow orders after all. Tazuna came as Kakashi prepared seals for a wind jutsu that would dissipate the remaining fog.

"That's fantastic! Now we have nothing else to fear from…"

The wind cleared the bridge and showed the mass of man now blocking the end.

"...Gato."

"Yes! It is me! I hoped that this useless tool would die," gloated the small pig of a man, in front of a crowd of hired thugs.

Haku's hand twitched.

"But why is the other still alive, standing, and doing nothing? Traitor!" Gato yelled.

The fatty man walked with his cane, hitting the ground soundly.

"At least I won't have to pay his ridiculously high fee. That was the plan all along! I hoped he managed to tire you enough. By your looks, you can all barely stand. Thank you, Tazuna, for this bridge! I will install pay tolls on each end for anyone who want to cross it! There will be taxes on goods to pay! And income taxes for the villagers too, for the building costs, of courses."

"You haven't lay a dime for…" began Tazuma.

"Silence! You will do as I say or my hundred men here will kill you with those pathetic tools!"

Haku twitched again.

"Haku?" said Naruto mildly.

"Yes, Naruto-sama?" Haku asked, his voice low and steady.

"Your next order is to kill that scumbag."

Haku raised his head, adorning a face that would have made Zabuza proud.

"With pleasure, Naruto-sama."

"Oh and Haku?"

"Yes?"

"Very painfully please."

Chakra swelled around Haku. He began to walk slowly toward Gato. The air got, for a second time that day, chilly in a way that did not comfort the fatty fat human-pig. He walked back inside the rank of his goon-for-hire, shaking.

"K-k-k-kill him!"

A wave of human bloodlust started toward Haku. Five steps later, they were all stopped in their tracks. The insane amount of killing intent radiating from the young boy rooted them all in place.

"Tooooooolls…"

His face contorted around his every word.

"You are the tooooollzzz."

Ice began creeping up their feet, and rapidly reached their knees. A ninja would have simply forced chakra in their feet and jumped out of there. They, as many as they were, were trapped. Gato had ice up to his thigh. His teeth were clattering, menacing to shatter.

Haku walked right in the middle of the samurai wannabes and jumped lightly in the air… to land forcefully, chakra leaping from his feet. This caused an incredible amount of water to fly high in the air. Haku made hand seals and said in a cruel, almost evilly sweet voice:

"Secret skill: Flying water needles."

The next instant, a hundred men fell face first on the ground, a needle in the middle of the forehead. No more kid's game.

Haku walked to Gato and looked at his pants.

"You managed to melt some of the ice with that _Pee Release Attack_ of yours. Impressive. I can't have you escaping like that. I'll have to rip off that weapon."

Naruto wasn't so sure anymore that it was a good idea to tell him that last order. He did his best to cover Inari's eyes and ears with his hands.

* * *

"We'll never thank you enough."

Tazuna was shaking hand with each member of Team Seven, taking great care to avoid looking at Haku, a few feet behind.

"Of course, your Hokage will receive payment for the correct ranking of this mission, but I can't settle for only that. We are torn between the name _The Great Team Seven Bridge_ or _The Great Sakura Bridge_ in the honor of that decisive battle."

Naruto looked at a blushing kunoichi. He apologized silently. He could not let this opportunity pass.

"Tazuna-san, this bridge will outlive you or me. Why not give it a name to fit this place. There is fog so often here… Why not call it _The Bridge of The Fallen Mist_?"

At that, Haku snapped his head up. Tears swelled in his eyes. This startled and surprised Tazuna a little. He just couldn't understand.

"Well… I does sound really good. I never knew you ninja had so much poetry in you!"

"We are good with words and hiding things in them. Often, the true sense is lost to the common man."

"Yes, yes... Well, the Bridge of the Fallen Mist it is!"

At this, they turned around and waved goodbye to the villagers. A dumbstruck Haku followed Naruto blindly, not caring if he was heading in a raging volcano.

"Naruto…What is all this about?" asked the Jonin instructor, more curious than upset.

"Kakashi-sensei... Haku is a fine guy. I can feel it. He fit a load more the Leaf standard than the Mist one. I had his obedience. I, on top of honouring the memory of a worthy adversary, just got his gratefulness."

"I see. But what do you intend to get out of all this?"

"For the village? A worthy ninja. One less kill. Personally? The secret to one-handed seals and Ice Jutsus. We, at the fire country, are very poor in that."

"Was that all planned too?"

"More like improvised when I saw him trying to commit suicide."

"Ha."

Haku suddenly stopped. They were near the first encounter spot with Zabuza, just passed the lake. He looked left, then right, put his finger in his mouth and whistled. Kakashi frowned. Naruto just crossed his arms. It went on for about five minutes. Then, the bushes rustled and a snowy rabbit jumped out of it. Haku took it in his arms protectively, and turned toward them, his face buried in the white, furry ball. Sasuke let out a "humpf", Naruto raised his shoulder once, Kakashi sweatdropped and Sakura clamped her hands together, stars in her eyes at the sigh of the fluffy bunny.

"I hope this won't burry _Inner Sakura"_ mumbled Sasuke.

Getting back on the road, Naruto resume his discussion with Kakashi.

"The funny thing is… before he went to try to end his life, I was ready to kill him myself as an enemy ninja. It's only when he went to do it himself that I intervene.

"You'll have to explain that to the Hokage."

"Right! Who do you think I got my merciful side from?"

* * *

**Yeah... so... Haku. I could not kill him. ****It was so great and so sad in the serie I could not attempt to do the same or better. So I did my best on an alternative with him alive that would be as dramatic. You know the drill.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other characters related. That's why being Japaneses are the best. I'm sure each of them own one anime or other.**

* * *

The trip back to Konoha was uneventful. Sakura was on her 'high' from her first real combat a while ago but she was trying her best to reign it in. Before getting in the village, she asked Sasuke for a sparring session to burn off some residual energy. He looked at her and told her to go and see Naruto for that problem.

"Why? Why sparring with him would be better than fighting you?" she asked, a little bit frustrated at his brushing off. She wasn't acting fangirl-like!

Sasuke almost twitched at the supposition. Almost.

"Sparring or fighting or running around is not the problem. You've got after-fight jitters. I never had that. Naruto did. He could help you better than I."

So, she went to Naruto. He told her to wait for the next break, the last before entering the village. Once they stopped, he made her sit down. She did so, tapping her finger against the ground.

"Stop moving, totally," he ordered her.

"I can't!"

He threw a kunai so close to her beating finger she feel the earth beneath it move.

"Eeeep!"

She was shaking a little but otherwise she was still as a rock.

"I could spar with you until exhaustion, but what if you get in a situation where you can't do that? The pent up energy will distract you. It will cloud your judgment. If you start spending all your left-over energy after fighting, you will continually tire your body. That will weaken you. You have to bottle up that energy until the next use you'll have for it. You must not spend it, dissipate it or ignore it. This is a little like meditation. But it is not. You have to look within and find your center. It is easy enough: that's where we have that pit feeling where we mold our chakra. Try."

Sakura closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

"Try to mold some chakra just a little. Then corner its form."

"Got it."

"You have it?"

"I see it."

"Good. Then imagine yourself surrounded by all that excess energy you have to stock away. Imagine it surrounding you, just over your skin and then suck it up inside the _mixer_."

He waited a while. Sakura did exactly as he said. She had to do it a little at the time. She felt it would not be good to push it there all at once. The very moment she finished, she heard Naruto speak.

"You see? That wasn't so hard."

"How did you know I was done?"

"Your energy was really surrounding you. You had a pretty light blue glow around you. When it was totally gone, I knew you were done."

"Thanks Naruto."

"No problem. I had that problem too. I guess it's the sign of a hot-tempered personality."

"I've never been like this before," frowned Sakura.

"Meh. You're evolving," said Naruto, shrugging.

Things with the Hokage went pretty much as Naruto predicted. The old men put Haku under his responsibility. It was decided that he would stay in the Uchiha compound and would get used to the life of this village before deciding what he would do next. At this, Haku mumbled, head low: "Anything that Naruto-sama decide". Naruto scratched the back of his head, perplexed, and Sarutobei smiled.

"Then you will turn out just fine." The Hokage gave them a few days vacations to rest from the A-rank mission it became and told them that their paycheck would be given as soon as Tazuna send the money.

Kakashi saluted his student out of the Kage tower, giving them their days off to rest instead then to train. Sasuke turned toward Naruto.

"Ramen?" he asked.

"Actually, I'm more in the mood for barbecue…" pondered Naruto.

"Are you feeling well?" asked Sakura, beginning to know her teammate fascination for the noodles.

"…for lunch. Then ramen are for dinner," finished the blond, nodding. "The best for last."

" I should have guessed. Come on Sakura, my treat," said Sasuke off-handily.

"Really, Sasuke?" she said, getting her hopes up.

"Yeah. That's the reward for that kick-ass fight with Haku. He's no pushover. You did well."

"Actually, if he would have targeted my vital parts from the start in the field of Ice Mirror, I would be long dead."

"Is that so?" Sasuke said, turning toward Haku who avoided his stare.

They entered Choji's favorite restaurant, took a free table and asked for enough meat to roll them all under the table. Team Seven indulged happily, the regime at Tazuna's being rather…plain. This time, Naruto actually took the time to chew. The meat had to be cooked well after all, he wasn't a fan of raw meat.

Seeing Haku not taking a bite, Sasuke pushed a plate of meat in his direction.

"Eat. We don't want you to collapse."

"Not until I earned my share..." Haku protested, shaking his head.

"Don't make me turn this in an order from Naruto," threatened the Uchiha.

Haku glanced fleetingly at Naruto, sitting at his side, who was looking at him from the corner of his eyes. Haku put some pieces of meat on the heating plate at once and concentrated very hard on their cooking. Discussion resumed around the table. The waiter came back to see them.

"Everything is fine? What a cute rabbit! Did you bring it here to be cooked?" he asked with a chuckle.

"NO!"

The shout made the poor guy jump back and fall on the floor. Haku didn't know where to put himself after this outburst but his hold on the rabbit tightened.

"Hum…Haku," Naruto said, putting a hand on his arm. "Don't worry, that was a joke. Nobody's gonna hurt your buddy. Waiter? Could you bring some vegetable for our fluffy friend?"

"Yes…yes. I'm sorry, really. I didn't mean to upset you."

"No harm done. We're fine. Bring more water. Thanks," said Sasuke, giving something to do to the scared waiter.

The guy almost ran to the kitchen. They were in a barbecue restaurant but hell would freeze if he didn't find any vegetables!

Naruto still had his arm on Haku's.

"You must have had a hard life," Naruto said calmly. "Don't worry. We value every life here. Even the rabbit's."

By then, Haku was embarrassed. He simply nodded and got his cooked meat out of the grill. Why did he feel like crying? Why were those strangers so nice to him? The blond told him he was going to pay off Zabuza's debt but he felt he was only getting more and more deeds toward them. Toward him. He didn't trusted his own voice. But he had to ask.

"Naruto-sama…"

"If you keep using the honorific, I'm really going to buy myself some land, build a mansion, hire servants and drink sake all day long," droned Naruto automatically.

"Naruto-san," restarted Haku, getting the message. "Why are you doing all this for me? We were, a few days ago, death enemies. I lost to your teammate. Whatever she say, it was my own weakness that made me lose."

"Weakness?" asked Naruto, looking a bit angry for the first time. "To value life? You are not too weak to kill people, Haku. It's just that your natural personality can't bear to kill an innocent, someone good. I remember you killing a hundred men in the blink of an eye. And then another one, where it was better to keep our eyes shut the entire time."

"You gave me a home!" Haku pleaded, as if this was all a mistake. "I'm part of a…village! You made sure I was safe… You gave me food… almost forcing me to eat in fact! How am I paying Zabuza's debt exactly? Tell me!"

Naruto stacked a piece of beef, chicken, buffalo and pork and put the bread-less sandwich to his mouth.

"Hummmm. You should try this Haku-kun, this is divine! As for your question, you're welcome. Because that's what you were doing: thanking me. Don't worry about paying Zabuza's debt, I've got things planned out for you. All in due time. But first, you've got to get a life. I think that's what your old master would have liked, deep down. You will begin to do, little by little, think on your own, for yourself. You will take your life in hand. I have things I want from you. Don't worry about that. For now, you will eat. You will sleep. You will mourn your master. Take a break. Then your life will go on. Any questions?"

Haku shook his head, in stupor.

"Good. Then watch your meat. It's going to burn."

Haku reached for his food from the grill and hissing noises could be heard where his tears fell on the heating plate. He stared at the food standing ready to eat before him but could not stand it any longer. He threw his head on the younger boy's shoulder and soundlessly cried. Naruto let him be, acting as if nothing was happening.

"So, Sakura, any insight about your training after your first real fight?" Sasuke said distractingly.

"Huh? Oh! Yes, Sasuke-kun! I think I'll need to…"

Conversation started again, punctuated by a light sob now and then, Naruto eating and patting Haku's shoulder. The waiter came and went silently, giving the rabbit his salad.

* * *

The break from the missions eventually passed. Sakura resumed training eagerly. She was getting hooked. Sasuke and Naruto were holding back a lot less, since they showed a lot of their real strength against Zabuza. Sakura knew she was way behind them but she had no idea how much before!

Naruto currently strolling in the commercial district, getting back from the ninja section of the shops where he could find the seal master merchant. The old ninja made a living off of selling seals furniture, explosive notes, sealing scrolls and, the reason of Naruto's visits, customized seals. Theses were much more expensive but with the Uchiha fortune, he really could afford it. The one he was the most interested in were the heavy weight seals, like the ones Lee had beneath his leg warmer. It was due time to get new ones if Sasuke and him were able to kill Chuunin level ninjas from a kick in the ass. Sakura's too would get hers and he even took some for Haku, just in case. The quiet boy was more into housekeeping right now, having claim all of the cleaning duties around the house as he got in. Not that it was _that_ dirty.

Every nick and cranny were cleaned and shined in the house he shared with Naruto and Sasuke. The rooms were the last thing that they would be short of. He was taking care of the meals, the usual groceries and the laundry. And the drinks he brought during their training session were always chilled. Naruto could get used to that kind of life easily! He understood why high ranking officials always had an assistant for the more menial task. It was so much time freed for more important tasks! Haku even made a memento in the garden in the honor of Zabuza. Still, Naruto knew that in his mind, The Bridge of Fallen Mist would always be Zabuza's shrine.

As he was strolling around, he saw a local farm's stand. Hummm... Fresh milk sounded really good right now. He guessed a little stop would not hurt. As he approached, the middle aged saleslady recognized him.

"The Uzumaki Uchiha Brother! Welcome to my humble stand! How can I serve you today?"

"I'd like a pint of your fresh milk please. It's always the best!" Naruto complimented, winking.

"Oh my! Be careful not to ask that to any ladies, some would take offense!" she said, laughing at her own joke. He would probably understand it years later...

"You never minded giving me your milk before, young lady..." said Naruto, eyelids half-closed.

Then again, maybe sooner. The woman knew when she was beaten. She tried hiding her blush by getting a fresh pint of the said beverage from under the counter.

"By the way," she said, eager to change subject, "...the ninja business must really flourish for you! Got any paying mission lately?"

"Why, yes! We got just back from one. How did you know?" asked Naruto, truly curious.

"Well, the merchant district here is a really tight knit group. We all took note of that new maid you hired," said the saleslady.

"Who.. Oh! Haku! You're mistaken. We didn't hire Haku."

"Don't be so modest. You made a fine choice. She's such a nice girl..."

By then Naruto had the time to open the milk bottle and take a swig. He shouldn't have. By the end of the women's sentence, the content of his mouth was forcefully expelled over the counter, right next to the woman.

-cough-cough- "WHAT?" -cough-gasp- "Girl? Haku's not a girl!"

"Don't try that with me!" said the middle-aged woman, tapping his wrist. "Just be respectful. She seems to have so much admiration for you. I'm sure you'll be a gentlemen and will not abuse of this situation. You know, things can get through a boy's head and you're coming at that age where..."

"Please stop! First of all, Haku's really not a girl. Believe me. He's a ninja we fought at our last mission and his master died in the process. Since he was about to commit his last kill on his own person, I stopped him and got him to follow me. He's got a debt of Honor to fill for his master. I'll admit he's very... feminine but he's a guy for sure!"

"But... that yukata she... he wears all the time seems so..."

"Yeah, I know. He's got a white pet bunny too. So what? He's a guy. Make sure to tell the rest of the merchants. I should expect things like this to come from our training with Sakura, not with Haku!"

"Is there anything to say about your training with Sakura-chan?" asked the saleswoman, looking suspicious.

Naruto looked at the woman hard. She _really_ wanted some gossip. Thank _god_ he didn't live in the same 'world' then her. It would drive him insane.

"Yes, there is. She'll be kicking all the boys asses in no time. Gotta go. Bye."

Naruto swear to himself to let all the shopping to Haku from now on.

* * *

"Well then, Kakashi-kun," said a smiling Hokage, "...your team seemed to handle difficult missions quite well. We'll start giving more of that kind of mission to sharpen their skills. Here, I've got an urgent C-rank for you today."

The Hokage handed the scroll to Kakashi's extended hand. The Jonin unsealed it and began to read under the impatient eye of his team. It would be their first mission since the 'Bridge of the Fallen Mist' mission. They would have to learn that every mission can't be as exciting as that. Lots of them were annoying to no end where you can, as an example, protect an important Lord, organize tight security and wait all day for an aggressor that will never show itself. Still, The lord will pay and you'll get back to the village, your job done.

"We've got to take a great bunch of documents to the next city bank for the accountants to calculate Konoha's income this year. Wow. Even I would get overexcited with this, Hokage-sama."

"Can't expect exiting mission every time, Kakashi-san," shrugged the old man.

Too bad for Kakashi who never learned, nor liked, that lesson. After all, even the D-rank missions with his students were fun. The Brothers always had this way to turn things interesting. Let's hope they could pull it off this time too. So much wasted potential...

"Let's do this, guys. We have to get the documents at the reception. The faster we end this, the faster we can get to do something else," almost yawned Kakashi.

"Hai, sensei," they answered in harmony, all at the ready. The Hokage was impressed at the discipline they got over one serious mission.

Once out of the office, Sakura turned to Kakashi.

"You think he bought it?"

Kakashi made his best smiling eyes.

"You all looked very professional! With any luck, it'll get us an upper C-rank mission or a B-rank next time!"

They got to the receptionist who was glad to drop the document on them. It was blocking most the desk and he could not see people getting in over them, even when he was standing! There was quite a lot of paperwork. They all took their share. By all, I mean Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke while Kakashi got his book out. They wrapped the documents in tight blankets and tied them securely on their back. They walked to the gates and took off to the trees at a good speed. They were as well to get some training with this. Hours passed in dull monotony, until Sakura noticed people in the bushes further ahead.

"Hey... do you think those are thieves?" she asked.

"Probably brigands," corrected Sasuke, as they were not looking subtle enough to be simple thieves. "We'll just pass over them. They might not even notice us."

"Your not going to do anything, sensei?" asked Sakura, turning to him.

"They are not part of the mission, Sakura-chan. You have to learn not to go overboard."

"Isn't it our duty to make the roads to Konoha safe?" she insisted. "What if a futuer customer get ambushed?"

"Fine!" he said, rolling his eyes. "We'll disable them and tell the authorities in the mission's town. Happy?"

"Yes! Thank you sensei!"

The poor guys never knew what hit them. Well they did, but later. All they saw was a flash of green, black, blue and pink come across them. They were, for the most of them, kicked, punched on the head or fell under a sleeping genjutsu.

Nothing else bothered the mission. They delivered the documents, told the authorities about the brigand pack piled in the forest and got back. As they passed over them on the way home, they noticed some of them coming back to their senses. Just for the fun of it, they punched them back to unconsciousness. It was a great stress outlet!

* * *

A few days later, Hatake Kakashi was standing in the Hokage office, waiting for the 'big news'.

"As you all know, the bi-annual Chuunin exam is getting near. This time, it will be hosted in Konoha."

Now _that_ was big news. It's been a while.

"So, register your team with care. The probability of death is very real," reminded the old man, his face as serious as it could be.

"I enter Team Eight," said Kurenai, lifting her hand.

"I enter Team Ten," said Asuma in turn.

"I enter Team Seven," drawled Kakashi.

Iruka was gob-smacked.

"Are you all out of your MINDS? We just told you there were probability of death!" he shouted to the Jonin instructors.

Kurenai and Asuma smirked. Good old overprotective Iruka.

"Don't worry," waved off Asuma. "They are strong enough to get through this and smart enough to quit before it's too late. This will be a chance for them to test themselves against ninjas from other villages in a controlled environment. It's gonna be a good experience for them, and training."

"As for my students…" began Kakashi, "...let's just say they were holding back at the Academy. A _lot_."

That surprised them.

"How much so, Kakashi-kun?" asked the Hokage.

"Well… Enough to be able to beat Momochi Zabuza of the Mist without my help," he said, smirking under his mask.

That sent a few jaws on the floor. The janitor would not be happy.

"He… he was Jonin level!" almost shouted Asuma.

"Not a Konoha's Jonin," Kakashi pointed, raising a finger.

"Yes he _was_!" replied Kurenai. "We're not all ex-Anbu captain like some!"

"I am confident they will not only get through the exam but pass it with flying colors," stated Kakashi, getting back on track.

That sent their mind reeling. Hatake Kakashi, who never passed a team before, just told them his three students would pass the Genin test a mere four months after graduating…without a hint of a doubt. Asuma started to chuckle. He turned back toward the exit.

"Well then, tell your students to watch out for my team," he said quietly.

"To watch out _for_ your team or to watch _after_ them?" asked Kakashi, enjoying this way too much.

Asuma paused his walk a moment before answering, his back turned.

"Both."

"I'll make the message Asuma-kun!" answered Kakashi with his infuriating smiling eyes. Damn him and his strong team.

Kurenai turned toward Kakashi, serious.

"They really beat a Jonin without your help?" she asked.

Kakashi sighted. No secrets toward fellow Jonin and the Hokage. Even for his students. It was like an unwritten rule.

"Sakura isn't ready to become Chuunin yet but this will make her grow. Naruto and Sasuke… are already Chuunin level and may have been for a while. In fact, they have the mentality to be Jonin level. They only need some more power and experience…if they aren't hidding even more from me that is, which I guess they may be. Soon enough, I'll get back as an Anbu with those two at my side. I'm impatient for this. Sorry Iruka, D-rank time is over for them."

Iruka accepted dejectingly the Jonin words.

* * *

Naruto was aimlessly strolling in town, Sasuke and Sakura at his side. He felt great. They were well on their way to become Chuunin, their first step. He mused about his life. He had a brother, friends, good teachers in a peaceful Hidden village. His past was dark but his future was bright. Even with the staining goal to kill Itachi. That was important and to never forget but he would not stop that to live his life to its fullest, like now.

A group of small children were 'playing ninja'. He chuckled, looking at them pass. Like cub lions that fight harmlessly among themselves, they were preparing for the true hunts of tomorrow. Then they heard shouts. They turned the corner to see one of the kid, hanging by his collar, at the hand of a sand nin if he was to believe the forehead protector.

"You little runt. Watch where you're running or you might find an unpleasant death," he snarled.

"If you keep menacing an harmless child in a village where you are guests, the same thing might happen to you," Naruto said, slowly walking up.

The make-up painted face of the ninja lifted toward the blond boy who just talked.

"Really? And who will give me that unpleasant death, pray tell?"

"It's going to be me if you don't stop now, Kankuro," said a voice from a tree branch.

"Gaara! I… Sorry! He ran into me and…" tried to explain the dark clad boy.

"Drop it. Don't make me repeat myself," said the boy, standing high from the ground. His dark-rimmed eyes didn't left Naruto though.

The one named Kankuro let the boy fall on the ground, who scrammed behind Naruto.

"I heard there was a strong duo, the Uchiha Brothers," said the racoon boy without hesitation. "You are one of them. What's your name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto. I'm one of the Uchiha Brothers."

Gaara lifted an eyebrow.

"And where is the other?"

Naruto smiled.

"Right above you."

At the moment where Gaara lifted his head up, Sasuke unfolded his leg, hanging down a branch over Gaara's head. They ended up their nose almost touching. The sand nin's eyes widen. Sand poured out of his gourd to attack but the hasty move was deflected by an outburst of chakra from Sasuke. He let the gravity do his work and let go of the branch. He landed on his feet, his hands never leaving his pockets. Sasuke walked at Naruto's side. Gaara's eyes locked on Naruto's blue pool. Sakura got closer to him instinctively, like the three little children.

"They would not approach you if they knew about you," Gaara said, barely above a whisper.

Naruto felt quite uncomfortable. Something with this guy felt just…wrong.

"If they knew about what? The bijuu? Of course they know," he stated as if it was a given.

Now Gaara uncrossed his arms and looked at him, unbelieving.

"How can they stay so close to you? How could that be possible when I…" he said before realizing he said too much. He grabbed one side of his head as he seemed struck by a headache.

Naruto understood fast. _That's_ what it was all about.

"I'll kill you Uzumaki. I'll kill you and there will be nothing left of you to bury," threatened the sand nin.

"Try me. You've got nothing over me," Naruto challenged him.

Gaara was surrounded himself with sand and disappeared.

Naruto let out a breath as the two other sand's ninjas left, searching for their psychotic teammate. Naruto got down at the little boy's level.

"What's your name?" he asked softly.

"Ko...Konohamaru," said the boy with some hesitation.

"You should be proud of your name. It hold a responsibility, as people will judge our village after you. Don't let what happened scare you, that or anything else for the matter. Even less when the menace is a foreign ninja. Did I look scared?"

The boy shook his head, a shine in his eyes that vaguely remembered something to Naruto.

"I wasn't scared for one reason: because I'm strong. I listened to my teacher and I trained hard every days. You can get strong too. Never let anybody tell you something is impossible. By trying your best, you may find something even better than what you were searching for. Never forget to have fun and live too. Nobody expect you to go on mission right now. And prank Iruka now and then. I don't have the opportunities to do it anymore, and he might get bored," Naruto finished with a wink. Then he stood up and patted the little boy on the shoulder. He turned back and resumed his stroll with his teammates at his sides.

Konohamaru was in awe at the blond. Usually, people patted him on the head, like some small kid!

"He was... so cool!" he said once the blond was out of earshot.

"He sure was! And cute too!" said his young female friend.

"He never seemed even nervous, even outnumbered three to one. He's courageous," added the third child, snot always menacing to run down his nose.

"We'll train hard and if I can get as good as him, I'll become Hokage for sure! Until then, we have something to do."

"What?"

"Prank Iruka-sensei..."

Back in a classroom at the Academy, Iruka was correcting papers. He suddenly sneezed and shivered in the same time.

"This... can't be good."

* * *

Gaara reappeared on a rooftop, a little bit further. He clutched the left side of his face with one hand. His pupils were threatening to turn a yellowish-gold.

"How can he? How can they all accept him? He's going to die. I'm going to rip off his limb one by one very slowly…"

Gaara only got his mind back at the price of great efforts. Then, he began to plan.

* * *

**Take that, sand face! Don't misunderstand me. I think Garaa is cool and he will turn around, but he still was an ass at that point. They showed with Gai, in the canon, that his sand could be repelled fairly easily, w****ith enough power. Well then, R&R everybody!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other characters related. When I'll think I do, please tie my white jacket tighter in the back. Thank you.**

* * *

"We will what?" asked Naruto.

"Train! For the next week before the Chuunin exam," answered Kakashi.

Sasuke and Naruto looked at themselves.

"And it will change from usual... in what?" asked Naruto, confused.

Kakashi brought them out in the woods after explaining them that he entered them in the Chuunin exam. He hid nothing to them, from the danger to their chances to pass. Sakura was determined to prove him wrong. They knew they had little time and they wanted to make the most of it.

"It will be different in the fact that I will train you closely instead of letting you train by yourselves. Believe me, after this, you'll wish you'd be Gai-san's students."

* * *

The week passed in a flash for some, in slow motion for others. It all depends of how many hours of sleep your sensei allow you to take.

Team Seven entered the building after ignoring Kakashi who was waving a tissue at them, almost sobbing. He was so proud! His little team was getting all grown up!

The Genins members of the team were in a more murderous mindset after the hell that had been last week. They were devising painful ends for some 'Ash-furred Cyclops'. They climbed a flight of stairs and passed indifferently a crowd that had the access of a room denied. A room that was so obviously under a genjutsu it almost got them a smile. Almost. Their lips were just too tired to move up.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked one of the Chuunin bully. "Don't you want to undertake the exam? You'll have to pass us first!"

"No thanks," answered Sasuke, "We don't need to go to the bathroom for the Genins exam, unless there is a urine test involved. We'll just go to the second floor directly."

They went about, not caring of the confused Genins behind. They got in the exam waiting room and waited. There was a lot of foreign ninja.

"Get away forehead girl! You monopolized Sasuke-kun long enough!" was the first greeting they had. "Sasuke-kuuuuun! How are you doing? Did this pink-haired klutz make you protect her all the way into mission? I bet she's so useless... You should have ended up with me instead!" chirped Ino cheerfully.

"Shut it, annoying girl. If you wanna talk, keep your tone, pitch of voice and insults to my teammates low. If not, I'll silence you myself," Sasuke growled with menace.

Ino was more than a little taken aback by the hostility in his voice. She was used to being ignored or told off, but this...

"Don't mind him, Ino-chan," comforted Naruto sleepily. "He's cranky because of lack of sleep this past week. I can relate, as can Sakura, since we all had special team training."

"Special training from your lazy teacher? Yosh! Burn my fellow ninja in the lava hot fire of..." began another Genin entering the room.

"Lee. Same thing than for Ino. Keep it down," growled back Sasuke.

"Yosh! If I can't tone it down, I will..."

"Have to shut up an entire week!" proposed Naruto hastily. "Try and listen to the wind Lee. I bet you haven't hear it in many years! See it as part of your training, as a sensory enhancer. Try it! Start now!"

Naruto seemed a little too enthusiast in his proposition but Lee, fire in his eyes, took a roll of duck tape and covered his mouth with three turns of the adesive around his head. Yay, training!

"Anooooo...You mentioned special training, Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata, joining the group.

"Ha! It can't be that great, Hinata," barked Kiba.

"I don't know" rebuked Neji. "Kakashi-san is a reputed Jonin."

"Humm." said Shino.

"Crunch, crunch, yamm," said Choji.

"Anything to do with weapons?" asked an interested Ten-Ten.

"Not quite," answered Sakura.

"More like... to climb something without using your leg at all," said Naruto.

"Move a rock with technique that we already know, never touching it," added Sasuke.

"Stand upside down on a finger on top of a hot cup of tea without breaking it," remembered Sakura.

"Recite the twenty-four ninja's credo..." kept on Naruto.

"While running," Sakura remembered him.

"That's not so hard," interrupted Ino.

"Around a waterfall," specified Sasuke.

"Still..." said Ino, not seeing the problem.

"Synchronized with each other by reading on his lips," Sakura said, nodding.

"Well... yeah..."

"Eight hours long," Naruto said in turn.

"During the night."

"Without sleeping before or after."

"With weights."

"And with sensei throwing us rocks."

"And..."

"OK! OK! WE GET IT!" yelled Ino, tired to see the three Genin throw themselves the ball.

The three from Team Seven looked at themselves. Talking about it like this almost make it look worse than it really was. Almost...

"You might want to keep it down. There are people here nervous enough as they are," an older Leaf nin said while approaching them.

"We keep telling them," shrugged Sasuke.

The first man to talk was a little taller than them and wore spectacles.

"Hi! I'm Kabuto. If you need anything, just ask! If you want to know about past exams or the people who are in it right now, I can help you. We've got to keep together as Leaf ninjas! I've got cards about pretty much every one here. It's my seventh time taking the exam."

"Seventh? You're so lame!" That was Kiba, alright. As tactful as ever.

"Kiba, you're only six failures behind him. That's only three years," Naruto said.

"You mean seven failures," frowned Kiba, falling head first in the trap.

"At the level I see you right now, you can already count this one."

"Why you..." he began, a fist shaking.

"Anything on a guy named Gaara?" asked Sasuke.

Kabuto took a card from his deck, made it rotate around his index and put chakra on it at the same time. The card pooffed and writing appeared on it, showing the stats of Gaara of the Sand. There was not much.

"Let see... His first Chuunin exam... many C-ranked, B-ranked mission... and one A-ranked."

"An A-ranked?" Kiba was struck speechless. Thanks Kami.

"No big deal. We did one too," huffed Naruto.

Now everyone was looking at Naruto as if he grown another head.

"What?"

"Can't you brat all shut up? No little punks can become Chuunin anyway so just bug off!"

With that, the rude ninja, who was wearing a forehead protector with a musical note on it, sent a punch toward Kabuto to proove his point. Kabuto evaded it, quite easily, smirking. Then his glasses broke and he felt to the ground, blood coming out of his mouth. The attacking ninja didn't have time to finish what he started that Naruto was in front of him, a kunai on his throat. Sasuke was standing behind him, a kunai pointing between his shoulders. They were locked in that position, no-one moving, until the offender's teammates came to rescue the hot-headed man. One of them turned toward Sasuke, very polite.

"Excuse us for this. Our teammate can be very... impulsive."

Naruto was about to let a snide comment but Sasuke beat him to it this time.

"Keep your dog under leash or we'll castrate him. Before the euthanasia," he snapped.

The targeted man tried to reply but one cold look from the Ice Prince was enough to shut him up and send him his way.

"Sasuke-kun! that was so cool!" cooed Ino.

"I though I told you to keep it down. Better yet, keep it to yourself," Sasuke snarled, his patience way passed his limits.

"Sasuke! That was mean!" Sakura chastised him. It was saddening for her to see her friend treated like that.

"I'm in no better mood then ten minutes ago, before I learned that the guy who seemed to have taken an interest in Aniki and I did a A-rank mission like us. Deal with it."

"Okay you scumbags! No fighting!" yelled a voice from the other side of the room. "Except if you want to be expelled! Don't worry, there will be enough opportunities for that later! Now come over here, the exam is about to begin!"

Everybody went in the classroom under the watching eye of a bandanna head-covered Jonin. The class filled up quickly, each of them being assigned a place. Once they were all seated, Ibiki smiled predatory.

"The first part of this Chuunin exam is... a paper test!"

"A paper test? Origami?"

Yup, that was Naruto. A couple of Leaf nin actually chuckled, but most of the ninja just groaned in annoyance.

"Very clever. You have an hour to finish the paper set before you. The last question will be asked in the last fifteen minutes. You're caught cheating? You lose five point out of fifteen. After three times, you're outta here. Have fun!"

The class overturned their papers and some groaned again. The questions were hard. Some began looking left and right. Some were scribbling like mad. Sakura took her time and answered every questions. Sasuke and Naruto gave themselves an imperceptible nod. Sasuke sat back and waited. It was better for him not to use his Sharingan eyes and keep it a surprise for the real fighting. Nobody knew if he activated it or not. Most of them may never have heard of it. Still, the element of surprise must never be underestimated.

Naruto wanted to grin like a madman.

"It's been a while I wanted to use this."

He had to choose someone to copy from. Sakura would have been the easy answer but she was far from him. Instead, Hinata was right beside him. It would be so obvious to simply lean toward her. They would probably take his three strikes from such an obvious technique. He waited a few minutes until he saw her writing near the end of her paper from the corner of his eye. Hehehe... that would be fun. Incredibly complicated, but fun.

Naruto put his left hand on his forehead, as if concentrating on reading a question, and put the other on the desk, palm down. Then he let an incredibly thin trickle of chakra flow from the center of his palm. It swelled in the desk, following the easiest path it could in the fibbers of the wood. It crossed the way all over to Hinata's portion of the desk and pooled under Hinata's paper.

'Now for the tricky part...'

The chakra went through the desk and _in _Hinata's sheet. Since it was paper-thin, it was not even visible. It covered every millimetre of the now completely answered sheet. His hand left his forehead and touched his own sheet. The jutsu was made to replicate anything it was _totally_ covering in length, width and thickness. Even Hinata's Byakugan would have trouble to see more than a light hue over her sheet and would pass over the chakra wire. He superposed a chakra copy over his own sheet. The paper test was exactly the same from one to an other so the only thing that was visible over his own sheet... was the answers, written in chakra letters. He made them glow so softly that he almost had to squint his eyes to see them. He concentrated not to or it would look suspicious. While he wrote down his answers, he mouthed them discreetly. Sasuke didn't miss a thing. Compared to the waterfall exercise, that was nothing.

Once he was finished, Naruto let the jutsu dispel itself quietly. He relaxed, waiting for the last question to come. Must be a hard one. It didn't matter much. He felt ready. Time went by slowly. Naruto had long understood that the examiners were not there to catch anyone cheating but to evaluate how good they were at it. A lot of them must have been really clumsy since people were called out left and right. The room got clearer. Some tried to simply look at their neighbours. Come on! At least use mirrors like Ten-Ten, a puppet like the Sand guy, a family bloodline like the two Hyuga or Ino. To say that Ino was making it proved how bad the others must have been! Ouch, that was a harsh one, even if quite realistic.

On the other hand, it didn't bother Naruto how many would pass or fail. Yes, it was based on a competitive elimination selection. But it was to evaluate yourself individually too. Ten or one hundred, he didn't care. Only the ones with the necessary skills would become Chuunin.

"The fist forty-five minutes are up, class!" told the man joyfully. He took way too much pleasure torturing people. "And here comes the final question! But before I ask, I have to tell you the special rule for that particular question. Anyone who chooses to answer this one and get it wrong will be forbidden to take on the Chuunin exam ever again. You'll stay a Genin forever. If you choose to quit now, You'll be able to take the next test. But you and your team will have to go. Think about this carefully. Make up your choice now. You don't have much time to decide. Who's leaving?"

"I do." The man in his mid-twenties left without looking back. His teammate followed him, head low. Many other left.

"Anybody else?" There was a moment of silence before another team got up and left.

"Now... Anybody else? You're all making the people with real abilities lose his or her time! No-one else?"

Naruto was glad for at least one thing: the least people there was left, the less time it would take to get through this. The waiting was killing him! Could they get the last question already?

"Then, you all... pass!" exclaimed the Jonin, grinning.

That got him out of his reverie. They passed? Wasn't it too easy?

Ibiki explained about the guts it took at taking such a decisions. He showed his bald, scared head, remembering what a bad decision, or hesitation, could cost.

"The decision you are going to take as Chuunins, for those of you who pass, are going to affect your life and the ones of your teammate for the rest of their days. May them be physical or emotional scars, it's no laughing matters."

He looked directly at Naruto saying that.

"Maybe taking decisions now look easy, but that's because you haven't made bad one yet. When it will happen, and it will, we'll see how strong you really are. If you live through it. Understand now that this is one of the most basic lesson to know to be a Chuunin."

As he finished explaining that, the windows exploded in shards from an incoming missile. Whoever that was, he wasn't afraid of testing the reflexes of an already stressed, borderline hostile, audience. Four kunaïs pined a huge banner written Anko over it. A young woman jumped in the class from the now shattered window and landed perfectly in the center of the class.

"Get ready for the second part of the Chuunin exam, scums! I'm Anko and I'll be your next examiner!"

"Nice!" cheered Naruto. "Could you do that again, Miss, with pom-poms and a striped mini-skirt?"

"Ooooh... Look like we have a jester among us!" she said, grinning.

She wiped a kunai so fast most people in the room didn't have the time to see it fly. But they all heard it land. She aimed to graze him so to cut his cheek a little and stick it the far wall. Instead, Naruto raised his hand and let the projectile get through it. It stuck there hard. Anko took a step back and winced. He wasn't supposed to do that! Now she just wounded a candidate! Of her own village! Who's twelve years old, favorite of the Sandaime himself, prodigy of a wiped out clan that hold one of the most powerful bloodline in Konoha. One of the kid that Kakashi implied he might hold his ground against her in combat. Oh, yeah, that was a smart move.

The probably not for so long Genin raised from his seat. He walked toward her calmly. He pulled out the weapon from his hand, a small wince from the corner of his mouth visible. He handed the weapon back to her and then got back at his place, without a word.

Anko had a reputation to be a sadist. A sexy one. Still, she kept it to the injuries she gave others, not to herself! She knew about the Kyubi, about Naruto 'The Uchiha Prodigy'. He didn't do anything to earn her respect before. 'Before' being the keyword. Still, she was a professional and had a job to do. Not to mention a face to keep. She might propose him a private lesson later, about the bird and the bees around a coffee... on the table.

"Well... if we're quite done here, let's go the area number forty-four: The Forest of Death!"

Team Seven groaned in harmony, recognizing the place. On their way out of the room, Hinata and Neji stopped in front of Naruto.

"What's with the long face, Naruto? What do you know about that place?" asked his cousin.

"Anooo… Anything to worry about?" added Hinata.

"We had a three day survival trip in there last week and we were in no hurry to get back there," said Naruto. "I felt strange all the time in there. "

"Why so?" asked Neji, frowning. Usually, Naruto's guts instincts were the good thing to follow.

"I'm not sure. It's something that was pulling in my inside… Maybe the fox liked the place and that's why I was so uncomfortable," he confided.

Neji simply nodded.

"If he liked it, there must be a lot of twisted things growing and living there. We must be careful."

All enthusiasm now gone, Team Seven stayed quiet while Anko delivered the instructions for that five days examination. Naruto went to take the scroll and then toss it to Sasuke. He caught it deftly and hanged it on his belt for all to see. He wasn't scared of losing it or getting it stolen. In fact, he hoped they would try. It would attract teams to them with the opposite scroll and keep them from having to run around, searching for them. They got to their assigned gate and waited. They stood there, silent and annoyed. The exam was a little boring until now. They were impatient to get in a fight with someone from another village. Those Sound thugs would be good target practice. The gates finally opened and they jumped in.

They passed the first few row of trees when Sakura decided to ask about their next move.

"Do we lay down traps, go 'scroll hunting' or do we build up camp?"

Naruto, as usual, let the strategic side of the mission to Sasuke. He had a mind of his own, and would always tell what's on his it but he would usually abide by Sasuke's words, seeing the logic in them.

"We'll build our camp up. Most others will try to get to the tower as fast as they can and start hunting. We'll choose a place on the borderline of the forest, rest, and then we'll go hunting. We'll reuse the camp we found last week. We'll just have to put up some defenses against shinobi.

They changed their course slightly, a destination in mind. The forest was quite big. Even with twenty or so three men teams, it would have been rather unlikely to meet someone. But had they not changed direction at that moment, they would have had a few unpleasant meetings.

* * *

Naruto and his clones dove in the water. There, they caused so much chaos that the fish felt safer out of the stream and jumped out of the water. That feeling ended quite abruptly when kunais caught them in mid-air and pinned them again trees on the other side of the small river. Sasuke threw more kunaïs as the fishes didn't seem to learn from the fatal fate of their predecessors. Once they had enough for the next two days, Naruto got out of the water, feeling rather refreshed.

"We should try and find some herbs to smoke that in and roots to cook it with," Sasuke mused out loud.

"Yeah. And don't forget to take water in bags," Naruto answered with an after-thought.

"Way ahead of you."

A Sasuke-clone was gathering fresh water for drinking and cooking. They learned very fast, in only a three days span, how having food and water ready can be helpful. They got back by the riverside to their camp. They found a cave in the middle of a cliff that would be easy to defend and could provide safe resting.

As they neared it, they saw Sakura finish to install hidden explosive notes all around the entrance. The only safe way to get in would be to jump exactly in the middle of the thin entrance. Inside, a very simple genjutsu showed only one way to go, to the right. That path led to a dead end. If anybody walked in there, a boulder would fall behind them, blocking the only way out and thirty or so explosive notes would detonate in the cramped space. The passage to the left, invisible to anybody who doesn't know of its existence, led to their camp. A fire pit and grass and straw beds were the only commodities. In the forest of death, that's as good as a five star mansion.

They decided not to waste any moments. They would start the hunt at sunset, when the most inexperienced team would begin to search for a place to rest, their guard lowered. They ate some of the fish, keeping the rest in hermetic bags. They slept until the sun touched the horizon. Then, the hunt began.

* * *

Naruto was pissed. Not that slightly annoyed kind but more like the 'swearing I'm gonna gut your inside out' kinda pissed. He was presently trying not to get swallowed by a giant summoned snake. No reptile could get that big. No natural ones. He was in its mouth, keeping it open with his hands and feet, feeling its droll and venom sliding down his raised arms from the creature's two foot long fangs. Enough, is enough.

Naruto jumped forward, inside the snake's mouth. As it closed on him, he drew a kunai and stabbed upward as much as he could. Even as small as he was, it was more than enough for the tool to pierce the inside of the creature, rip the muscles and cut the brain in half. The brain was not that big either. The attack was more than enough to dispel it and send it back to the realm of the summon beasts, alive or dead.

Now that Naruto actually had the time to worry about it, this didn't bode well for his teammates. He knew of two snake-users. One was Anko, the examiner of this very exam. The other was the missing-nin Orochimaru, and he was the one holding the snake contract. He probably was the only one able to summon the higher-level beasts. That was not good. Anko would not try to kill fellow leaf-nins, even the cocky ones. That meant that the Snake Sanin was here to do… what? Ruin a Chuunin exam? There must be something more to this. Anyhow, he wasn't after the Kyubi or he would not have tried to push him away. That meant he was either after Sasuke or Sakura. He didn't fooled himself at the probabilities. He ran back in the direction where the snake separated him from his team. He really hoped he had the worst adversary to face, but somehow, he knew it was just wishful thinking.

Sakura was standing beside Sasuke, her weapon drawn. Even in this dire situation, she was glad to see that Sasuke trusted her and that they could fight side by side. She just wished it was in a battle they had some hope of winning. The ninja in front of them held loosely two kunais in his hands. She wasn't that good yet at judging an adversary strength, but she knew Sasuke was. Right now, he looked tensed… and afraid.

"My, my, Sasuke-kun. You grew up so strong! You out-pass every prediction I had about you. That's very nice," said the unknown ninja mockingly.

"Who the fuck are you?" growled Sasuke.

Sakura shivered. Sasuke just swore. He never swear. The situation was even worse then she thought.

"Me? I'm an exiled ninja… or rather I left this village quite a few years ago. I couldn't get any stronger while I stayed here. You should know by now how true power is not accepted. People tend to get scared of you once you show too much superior skills. They don't understand you. Then they end up trying to get rid of you. The keyword being 'trying' of course. Your brother, Itachi, was the same. "

"What do you know of him? Have you met him?" asked Sasuke, gessing he could try to learn something out of this man while he was still in the talkative mood.

"Why, yes! We were part of the same… private club you might say. Until our points of view differed. I learned that you wanted to get even for what he did to your clan. I could give you the power you need," the man finished, drawling.

"I don't follow strangers who offer candy to little kids," hissed Sasuke, figuring that fighting was inevitable.

"Too bad. I'll have to convince you then."

The wave of raw killing intent left Sakura paralyzed. She saw her death so many times she didn't know if she was still alive anymore or if this was what hell was like. A knife through her throat, her forehead, an explosion that ripped her apart, her blood flowing everywhere and wounds that appeared from numerous laceration coming from everywhere… She managed somehow to get back to reality. She still could not move, but not from the killing intent. Sasuke had her in his arms, jumping from tree to tree.

Sasuke, on the other hand, though of nothing else but to flee. He had to get away. He was far from stupid. Naruto and he, long ago, managed to put their hands on the bingo book. Old Sarutobi was rather occupied with Naruto who was asking to learn a mountain-splitting jutsu that would take only two or three seals to activate. Sasuke swapped the book when Naruto jumped on the desk, faking to search for training scrolls on it. They copied it and memorized it. That's why he could tell this was the snake Sanin Orochimaru himself.

After that pleasant discussion, it became crystal clear the leaf traitor was after him. But what for? He would have to guess later. He managed to put Sakura down on a tree branch and slap her across the cheek. Twice. He didn't have the time to see if it worked. He jumped back down the tree. The Sanin was coming right at him! Damn! He didn't have the time to take off his weight! He managed, strangely, to withstand the older ninja attacks. He took some distance and made a few Kage Bushins. They all threw wires at the enemy who could not evade them all. The Bushins held him in place and all sent Grand Fireball straight for his head. It found it's mark and the tree to which he was tied was utterly destroyed under the assault. The top part cracked and fell down just over the enemy nin's head. Sasuke became even more worried. How could he, a twelve years old, even as prodigious as he was, land a hit on a Sanin. With his weight on.

He froze as he heard a light chuckle.

"Good… Very good! That's what I was expecting of you! Not even a slight hesitation to deal a mortal blow! "

Sasuke understood. He was going easy on him. Testing him. The guy was so sure Sasuke could not possibly hurt him he deliberately let the Genin hit him. His fears were confirmed as the mask the Snake-ninja was wearing melted down, showing untouched skin. He would have to go all out. He would need Naruto's help. He hoped he would get back soon from that snake's attack.

Meanwhile, Sakura finished waking up from Sasuke's slap. She silently cheered for him as he seemed to hold his own and then land a clean hit on the freaking ninja. Then she heard the freak laugh. She was scared shitless. Anyone who was laughing after such a beating was totally insane. And totally out of her league. But that emotion got pushed away by another. How _dare_ he laugh of Sasuke! She quickly prepared herself and then jumped toward the bragging ninja. She started by throwing five kunais charged with her trademark explosive tags. The man disappeared in the trunk of the tree right before it hit him. The detonation finished to totally destroyed the lower part of the tree. Under that commotion, she didn't see him aim a hit in her back, his torso leaning out of a another nearby tree. She did feel it. For a second time in the last ten minutes, she felt paralyzed. She saw the edge of her vision darken while she fell to her death.

Funny. The ground was higher then she remembered. And comfy. She distinguished, from her closing eyes, the sand that caught her and the enemy ninja hit by a _huge_ wave of sand, away from Sasuke. Then she saw Gaara. And then she saw nothing else.

Sasuke was totally overwhelmed. He was about to lose to an enemy just to see him get easily swat away… and being replaced by another enemy nin. Gaara had Sakura wrapped up in his sand. He was looking at him and seemed to be debating something in his mind. He finally decided to talk.

"Tell Uzumaki Naruto that now, I have something over him. He will have to come to me and fight me if he wants to see the girl alive. Mend your wounds. It will be your turn right after him."

Then he just turned away, supported by a continual wave of sand. Sasuke didn't know what to do, but if it was the legendary Sanin that Gaara just knocked over, he was better to take this chance to get out of there and fast before he got back. He made some hands seals and burrowed in the sand now covering the place. He manage to travel a few dozens meters before being pulled out forcefully from the ground and thrown high in the air.

"It is no befitting of an Uchiha to crawl underneath the earth like a worm," yelled a pissed Orochimaru.

Sasuke hit something, but instead of falling, that thing grabbed him and sat him on a nearby tree branch.

"Sasuke! Are you alright?" asked Naruto, unhurt.

"Naruto… take'em off… before it's too late…" mumbled Sasuke, still dizzy.

"The other… the demon-carrier…" whispered the Snake Sannin.

Naruto used the time Orochimaru observed him and took his weight off. He was shaking everywhere but he did it nonetheless. They fell to the base of the tree with a nice resounding 'Boom' and dig the earth beneath it a little. The he took off Sasuke's. Maybe he wasn't in shape to fight, but he had to put all the chances on their side. He would, with any chance, be able to flee. He knew how dangerous that man was, to beat up Sasuke in such a short time. Even with his weight on.

"Where is Sakura?" asked Naruto, not bothering to swap the area with a look.

"Gaara took her a moment ago, saying that he now had something over you. He wants to fight you," Sasuke replied, his eyes getting clarity. He managed to get back standing.

"Really?" answered, Naruto feeling cold anger seize him. Looking at SasukeS beaten form, he concentrated on the present matter. That freak would pay for this.

"Be careful, Naruto, that's the missing shinobi Orochimaru… The Snake Sanin… "

Well, okay, maybe not. But it's not as if he had a choice.

"Fu-fu-fu.. Are you really preparing yourself to fight me? Even knowing who I am? Interesting. "

Orochimaru jumped at them, forming seals all the while.

"Demonic seal no jutsu! "

Naruto tried to dodge but received the flaming blue fingertip in his stomach. The _pain_ was _unbearable_! He felt every single fingers consume his flesh and caused something inside him to shift weirdly. Naruto fell down the tree and landed hard on the ground below.

"Narutooooo! What have you done to him you monster?" yelled Sasuke, turning toward Orochimaru, now less than two meters away.

"Ku-ku-ku… Don't worry about him. He obviously learned to use his demonic chakra, dealing with my pet snake like that. I simply sealed it away. To seal chakra in full use… He'll be passed out for at least a few days. Now, Sasuke-kun, I have a gift for you."

The Sanin, now right in front of Sasuke, who was trying to find a way to take his distances, showed fangs of impossible length on a human being. He slowly prepared himself for the bite. Sasuke was paralyzed by the eyes that seemed to bore into his. He tried to look away but was locked in place by the evil will of the pale-skinned abomination in front of him. As the fangs neared his neck, right before they pierce his tender skin, Orochimaru was stopped. Not stopped like a tap on the shoulder do. More like how a chakra-charged fist in your face can. His head was thrown back, blood spilling everywhere. It was his turn to fall to the ground, on his knees.

Naruto, panting heavily, looked at the snake ninja who was coughing blood. The man looked at the bloody pool in his hand in disbelief. Two particularly white, sharp ivory shards were resting in it. His fangs!

Naruto was stunned that the man was still conscious but glad that _some_ damage was done. It was his own version of the 'Not-so-Gentle Fist'. He charged chakra all over his hand and instead of a precise strike, his hit induced chakra in the whole area his hand hit! It's a little more diffuse, but with enough chakra behind it, it should block more then one tenkutsu at the time!

Uh-oh. The guy seemed quite pissed to have lost those two fangs. Maybe it was time to get out of here. Naruto took Sasuke under the arm and took off. He pushed chakra in his leg at every single jump, getting to speed he rarely used, not stopping even after a good twenty minutes of uninterrupted running.

"Look at what we've got… HEY! Don't ignore me! "

He jumped over a ninja with a fur-covered coat and a bandaged face. They didn't plan on stopping at every stupid ninja they would cross. Orochimaru didn't seem to be following them but the hell if they would take any chance!

The problem is that stupid ninjas don't like to be ignored. The branch Naruto landed on suddenly snapped after some kind of attack the mummy-man sent. Naruto landed a little hard on the floor, managing not to drop Sasuke.

"It's okay Aniki, I can stand," whispered Sasuke, getting his bearing back.

"Not after what I'll do to you!" yelled the fur-covered ninja.

"The Sound Village hun? Guess we know what destroyed the branch," mused Sasuke out loud.

"You feel ready for this, Aniki?" Naruto asked, worried.

"I've been beaten up, Sakura's been kidnapped and even you, in good shape, had to flee from our enemy. How do you think I feel?" growled Sasuke.

"You wanna vent up on those guys?" asked a surprised, but amused blond.

"Exactly. Take the two others, I'll take care of the fur ball."

"Okay, Aniki. Make that fast, though. I don't wanna linger around here any longer than necessary. Snake-face is probably still around."

"You met Orochimaru-sama? How come? He sent us to kill the Uchiha brat! What did he tell you? Answer me!" babbled the furry Sound nin.

The Uchiha Brothers looked at each others. And frowned. Sasuke popped a soldier pill in his mouth. Then they put on their sunglasses. Naruto, in one smooth move, threw a flash bomb in the air. That flash signalled the end of that team.

* * *

Naruto put wood in the still red ashes. Sasuke tiredly sat down. Naruto opened the light backpack he brought for the exam, containing mainly some wires, explosive notes, flash bombs and, most importantly, a first aid kit. He carelessly sent the Sound nin's scroll in it before sitting down next to Sasuke and began to tend to his wound. Some were open wounds of a well placed hit. Or because he was tossed in a tree... or through a tree from the look of some. Sasuke must have lost some blood too. He knew that the soldier pill activate the production of blood, which is a reason why you must not abuse them, but even then he would have to sleep a lot to get in top shape. Thankfully, he had no broken limbs. Even if it was a close call from the look of his bruised arm. It might have been weaken. Maybe they should wear bandages like Lee? It absorbs some of the damages of repetitive shocks and reduces the chance of broken bones. All in all, Sasuke would need rest and a medic nin as fast as possible. Too bad medical jutsu take extra-trained chakra control and monitored teaching. Too bad they could not sit on their ass for the rest of the exam either.

"So... now we know, after interrogating that 'oh so loyal' Sound ninja, that Orochimaru is the head of said village. They plan something big. What we saw is only the tip of the rock that we always trip on the ground. Probably a massive attack. They have allies inside. Who else could it be, other than that low-level team we just trashed?"

"I don't know Aniki..." grumbled Sasuke, moody for once. "Why not a psychopath, demon-bearing Sand's nin team?"

"I would usually agree, but why would he attack his boss like that?" wondered Naruto.

"After a fire jutsu, he pulled some kind of skin-like mask off. Maybe Gaara never saw him with that face before? Anyway, Racoon-boy doesn't look like much of the team player."

"Yeah. I think by now, we can assume Snake-face gave up the chase. I wonder why? He seemed to be hell-bent on getting you. Anyway, it leaves us with the task of retrieving Sakura."

"I'll do it. You'll be the decoy. Gaara will look at no-one else but you," Sasuke said, nodding to himself.

"You're in good shape enough to take on the two others?" asked a doubtful Naruto.

"I doubt they are above Chuunin level. It should be okay. I don't have to kill them. Only outsmart them."

"Okay then. We'll wait for the night when most of them should be asleep. Since Gaara look like the team leader, the two others will probably share guard duty."

That was the only flaw of the plan. How could they know?

* * *

Sakura, despite a light headache, woke up all right. She opened her eyes and saw that she was getting transported by sand. The one thing was, she was trapped like a sushi in it. And getting cramps. It was too tight too.

"Hello! I'm awake! Could you let me down?" she asked loud enough.

"You're my hostage," deadpanned Gaara.

"And that would stop me from walking... how?"

"You could try to escape," he pointed out, as if it was obvious. In a way, it was, but...

"I think you made your point quite clear of what would happen to me if I tried that. Anyway, I know you can't kill me. Wanna know how? If you do so, Naruto will do the exact opposite of what you ask of him! You want a fair match? He'll raised his hand, give up and flee! You want advices? He'll stay mute. You want to pass the exam? He'll make you look like a simpleton! So why don't you try now! Hurt me! Look at this arm I have here, who look so fragile and easy to damage... A little pressure from this sand of yours should be enough to break it! Come on! Rip me apart! You know you want to, right? What are you waiting for?" Sakura taunted him.

Gaara was, at the very least, thrown off balance. He was in uncharted water. It was the first time somebody asked him to do it! He was finally getting near his temporary camp. He walked faster, in a haste to put her down and far from him.

* * *

Temari was lounging against a tree, sighing. Kankuro was cooking some strange animal that crossed their path earlier. They already had their scroll from some unlucky Rain ninja team. Then, Gaara told them to set up camp and went away. That was four hours ago. They could be at the tower by now! But nooooo... It could not be that simple! Then she heard noises. A loud taunting voice was getting closer. The sight that unfolded next was the strangest ever. Gaara was walking fast, almost to a jog, with a girl, trapped in his sand, which was throwing verbal jab non-stop. Gaara spotted Temari and ran toward her. He threw the girl at her feet. Before she could ask anything, the pink-haired kunoichi turned toward the demon-carrier and spoke to him, obviously faking a hurt voice.

"Gaara-chan! Who is this other woman? You told me I was the only one! Do you kidnap every pretty girls you come across? We'll need a couple counsellor."

"TEMARI!" shouted Gaara, making the Sand kunoichi jump. "Take care of her. Keep her alive. Unhurt. And keep her AWAY from me!"

Then he turned back and went to the fire, his agitated sand almost extinguishing it. Kankuro was smart. He shut his mouth. Sakura stuck her tongue at Gaara in his back, and winked at Temari.

"Sheesh... Guys..." Sakura mocked, rolling her eyes.

"Hummmm... What's happening exactly?" asked Temari, wondering if she should tie her up.

"Nothing extraordinary. I'm his hostage!" Sakura said exitedly.

"Why would he do that?" asked Temari, frowning.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto's teammate. He wants to use me to pressure my teammate into fighting him."

"Oh. Ok. Then... huh... you..." began Temari, for once at loss for words.

"Don't worry. I'm not stupid enough to try and escape from your brother. I just want to mess with his mind a little," grinned Sakura, not noticing the shiver of terror that went up Temari's back when she heard that.

"Temari! Since we have something that looks like a girl here, why don't you send her here to cook?" yelled Kankuro from his attempt at a meal.

Kankuro wanted nothing more then to tie that bimbo up and leave her here but since they had to keep her around for now, she was as well to be useful. Gaara's sand was still moving fast inside his gourd. Halas, it was not Temari who answered him.

"We're talking girl stuff so beat it!" snapped Sakura. "But seeing how much make-up you have on your face, you could join if you want!"

She turned toward Temari.

"Did he come out of the closet yet?"

Temari could not stop herself from laughing. Kankuro turned toward Gaara, absolute shock written all over his face. What he saw turned his blood to ice. For a fleeting moment, Gaara's lips draw a smirk and his shoulder shook a little. His little brother could laugh!

"Shut up, you pink-haired bimbo or I'm gonna cut your hair as short as Temari's!" shooted back Kankuro, not about to be told off by this... Leaf!

"What's wrong with my hair?" asked Temari, frowning.

"Yeah! What wrong with her hair?" insisted Sakura, having way too much fun.

"Nothing! I was just..." Kankuro answered, trying to defend himself, his hands held up.

"Some of us don't keep themselves under a full-body blanket because they look like bad hair day all year long!" fired Temari, pissed at having her hair mocked so casually.

Kankuro didn't dare to turn toward Gaara now. He heard him chuckle!

"The hell with ya'all girls!" he simply said, throwing his hands up.

He turned toward the meat trying to order it to cook with his stare.

Later, before the sunset, Sakura sat before the fire, having had her share of Kankuro's meat. Temari didn't want to share and Gaara simply looked at him. He didn't have much of a choice, did he?

Gaara watched Sakura edging closer, a warning written all across his face. He didn't want to spend the evening hearing her non-sense.

"Naruto want to fight you too, you know," she whispered quietly, putting her hand in front of the fire.

Gaara turned his attention fully toward her now.

"He told us. Sasuke and I," she kept on.

"How... How can he have this life..." began Gaara, unsure of why he was asking her. "How come people gather around him when he is..."

"You mean with what he have in him," precised Sakura, a finger up, almost scolding him. "He has a demon in him. He is not the demon. It's a popular misconception, but not in Konoha. We're smarter than that. This condition does not define him. That's how we see him. Just ask when you'll fight him."

Gaara looked pensive a while but ended up turning toward her, frowning.

"Don't try to escape."

"Of course not! What kind of hostage would that make me?" the kunoichi answered flippantly.

* * *

Naruto was crawling with a maximum of stealth. He didn't want to be detected until the last moment. With any luck, the sentinel would be asleep. When he got in sigh of the campfire of the sand's team, that hope was gone in smoke. Gaara was waiting, arm crossed, his back to the fire. Naruto got up and walked in the circle of light. He saw Sakura, rolled on herself near the fire, sleeping. The strange thing was that she laid there unbound, and didn't look stressed or hurt. This was good, but unexpected. Gaara's teammates were asleep too, against trees. The demon-carrier from Sand seemed a lot calmer then the last time.

"I have some questions for you as some of my... belief... have been shaken. But I also want to fight you. I'm not going to listen to someone's philosophy if it get me weaker."

Naruto just stood there. Now that was a surprise! How did it get to that?

"So... you're telling me you have questions for me but you'll allow me to enlighten you only if I manage to beat you up. That's an unusual request," he said, one eyebrow raised.

Sakura stirred and yawn. Probably that hearing Naruto's voice woke her up. She saw him facing Gaara and none of them had their weapons out yet. She got up and started walking toward her blond teammate.

"Stop! You're my hostage! Remember?" ordered Gaara, half-turned toward her.

"Yeah, yeah. The sleepover was fun Gaara-kun but I've got to go now. I've still got a Chuunin exam to pass. Let's do this again sometime. Naruto? Could you fight him and beat him up yet so we can go back to sleep? We have a scroll to get tomorrow and I'm tired of seeing trees."

While she talked, she manage to calmly walk over to Naruto and stand behind him. What stopped Gaara from reacting before was a simple single word. Gaara...-kun? Since when was he a 'kun' to anyone?

"Alright Gaara," answered Naruto, nodding. "I'll fight you. Fair and square. But not here and now. The exam is not done yet. I'll be ready for you. Better get your mind to find those questions since I'll kick your ass. See ya!"

Sasuke dropped right at the side of Sakura. Her eyes lit up. He was okay! She feared so much of what had happened to him! She gave him a quick hug, knowing he would not like too much attention. Team Seven turned around and started walking away.

"What now?" asked Temari, getting to Gaara's side while yawning.

"The tower. We've got the scroll," he simply answered.

"Great, I can't wait for a shower."

* * *

"You'll have to tell me how you came to be an unhurt hostage of that psychopath," asked Naruto to Sakura, chuckling and shaking his head.

"He's not that bad! He only had to meet someone crazier than him," she waved off.

Once in the tower, after reading the huge sign in the entrance, they opened both scroll and Iruka appeared.

"I've _got_ to find out how to do this!" Naruto said jumping all excited. "Can it be done unknowingly by the summoned? To be able to summon the old man..."

"Ha! Don't count on that!" snorted Iruka, amused. "It only work on a local area. I was waiting in this tower to be summoned from the start. If you would have opened this outside of here, I would have greeted you in an other way."

"I can guess how," said Sasuke, rolling his eyes. "So, who made it this far?"

"You cousin's team made it here a few hours ago. The Sand's nin team got here a few minutes before you."

"No-one else?" asked Sakura, surprised.

"Hey! It's only the second day..." chuckled Iruka.

"I guess you're right," shrugged Naruto. "By the way, could it happen to have Sasuke checked out by a medic nin? We ran into the missing nin Orochimaru in the forest and we didn't escape unhurt."

"WHAT?" shouted Iruka, feeling his heart jump madly in his chest.

After telling him everything that had happen, Iruka hushed them in a separated room to rest and called more Anbu to guard the tower. He sent one to tell the bad news to the Hokage and to fetch Anko. When she got to him, she was in a definitely bad mood. She told him about the bodies found of a Mist team that had their faces peeled off. That, and her meeting with her former master.

Iruka was shocked, to say the least, when the Hokage ordered to let the Chuunin exam to continue as planned. He had to avoid for Konoha to look weak in front of the other villages or thing would prove disastrous. That and the fact that whatever the missing Sanin planned, it would be worse if they acted as if they learned of his plans, which, in fact, they didn't. So, having nothing else to do, Iruka went to tell his former students of the recent developments. Opening the door to their room, he found them all asleep on the beds or, in Naruto's case, on a lounge chair. Iruka smiled fondly. They really looked like children like that. He quietly got out and went to find Kakashi-san. Their Jonin teacher would have to be extra careful in the future.

A medic nin came and healed Sasuke the best he could. Meaning he could have fought right there and then after he was done with him. Konoha's medic nin were few but very competent. On the other hand, he could do nothing for Naruto who described the attack done by the Snake ninja. Naruto molded chakra and a seal appeared on his stomach. It was of an unknown design to the medic specialist. Even the name of the technique didn't ring a bell. The only comforting news was that a seal specialist could be found around Konoha in the next days. The Toad Senin himself! Naruto was happy to have an excuse to approach such a legend! Maybe he could trap him into training him for a while...

The effect of the soldier pill wore off on Sasuke and he rested himself well, since training on soldier pills were a waste of time. The muscles were already strained from the extra energy. Anyway, the week prior have been hell so they felt they deserved some peace. Team Seven did nothing to approach the Sand nin during their stay in the tower. They both had things to brew in their head. Little by little, people came in, summoning Iruka to the Hall, sometime in the middle of a conversation. It was quite funny to see you teacher dispel in smoke as if he was a summon, which he was, in a way. The nine Genins fresh out of the Leaf Academy made it out. It was quite a surprise for everyone. A Rain team got there too, all wearing underwater breathing masks. Kabuto's team got in, having found some sucker team to steal their scroll. The next day would be the final test.

They went to sleep. Then, the morning came.

The survivors from the Forest of Death went in a huge room in the center of the tower, an indoor arena. They were more than a hundred when they began. Now they were twenty-one. The numbers spoke for themselves. Even if the exam seemed easy for some, they were, in a general point of view, a minimal to be considered at becoming Chuunin and to be trusted with other ninja's lives. The exam, even now, was far from over. The Hokage was standing in front of his seat, on the balcony, watching over them.

"Congratulation to every single ones of you. That you made it this far prove the extension of your training and the effectiveness of your abilities. There is but one last test to pass. The remaining candidates will participate, in a month from now, to a tournament. A win or a loss at this point doesn't matter: the fight will be evaluated in itself. Still, you are too many to enter that final stage of the exam. That is why the first round, or preliminaries, will be held right here, right now. I know it does not seem fair for those who got here late and didn't have the time to rest from the Forest's ordeal, but this is the kind of thing to considerate. You won't always have the time to rest between two fights in a mission. For those who feel unable to continue, you can give up now. Just raise your hand and you will be escorted to the nearest medical facilities."

"I give up!"

None seemed too surprised of Kabuto standing down. His teammate seem to be eager to fight though. They didn't seem to care about their teammate defection either. Naruto and Sasuke looked at each others. Something was fishy.

"No-one else? Well then. Let's start immediately. The fights will last until one of the participant surrender or his unable to continue his fight. No need for merciless killing. The electronic billboard will show the pairing for the matches randomly. Good luck to you all!"

The Hokage seated himself and the billboard started to flash names at a rapid pace. It stopped on two names. Hayate, the referee, called forth the chosen fighters. They both took the stairs and walked down in the arena. They stood in their respective battle stances in front of one other.

"Hajime!"


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Do not own, but still having fun.**

* * *

"Hajime!"

The two fighters seemed in no hurry to get it on. One was looking down at the other while the other… hasn't pulled his hands out of his pockets yet. The elder one took a fighting stance, smirking.

"I'm honoured to fight you, Uchiha Sasuke. At last, I have the opportunity to put one of the 'Uchiha Brothers' down myself. Face it: you're still just a child. It takes many years as a Genins to even hope to become a Chuunin. That's for those who have the potential to get there. With no one to teach you the ways of your clan, you lost any and every advantages you could have over another child. You should have waited before getting in the big boy's league."

"If you say so. Are you coming or what?" Sasuke replied, bored already.

Yoroi lost his smile. How he _hated_ that kid! He would show his master Orochimaru he would be a better choice for whatever he had planned for this kid. He would paint the walls with his blood! His face expressed his rage as he charged him, full speed.

Sasuke wasn't even bothered. The full velocity of the man had him move a little, but nowhere nearly enough to stress him, even with his new weights on. This would make Lee proud, oh yeah. Still, every time the fist of his enraged adversary came close, he felt a little weird. He was intrigued. His curiosity spiked, he decided to find out. He grabbed an incoming punch with his right hand. Now he clearly felt his chakra leave his body. The palms of Yoroi were absorbing it. While he was examining this, Yoroi, tried to escape the vice-like grip on his arm. It would not budge. He hoped he would drain enough energy from the brat before he broke his arm!

"Nice. That must take Chuunin level medic-nin control to absorb chakra by a simple touch in combat. Thankfully, I was fully charged and at the rate you're going, I'm in no danger. But it does tire me. Which, in turn, annoy me."

Sasuke pulled on Yoroi's arm and sent his knee in his enemy's stomach. He faintly heard an arm snap. Such a fragile little thing. Then, Sasuke took him by his collar and sent him ten feet in the air. By the time Yoroi stopped climbing, Sasuke had the seals for his favourite jutsu ready.

"Katon: Grand Fireball."

The massive, continuous fire breath caught his adversary as he was falling back down. He rode it up until he crashed hard in the ceiling. As the fire died, the embedded body didn't fall down. Even from there, everyone could see the white pupils. The guy was, at least, unconscious.

Hayate walked under the guy, looked up and said:

"Winner, Uchiha Sasuke. Could someone bring me a ladder?"

_Then_ the body fell down.

"Never mind," called hayate, expressionless.

Naruto frowned as Sasuke climbed back on the balcony.

"What was that all about?"

"He didn't… feel… like a Konoha ninja," Sasuke tried to explain.

"That implies a lot," his brother mumbled, frowning.

"Yeah."

"We'll have to see the old man about this."

"My guess is: he already knows," sighed Sasuke.

"I see. Is it the best solution, to ignore the threat?"

"Humm… He knows we're strong. The panel could be rigged but, somehow, that's unlike him. He wants to call off his bluff," guessed Sasuke.

"What if Snake-face is not bluffing?"countered Naruto.

"Then we better prepare for when he'll play his strongest cards," sighed Sasuke.

Meanwhile, the panel was rolling names again.

"Next fight: Aburame Shino vs. Otomaro Ken."

Shino, emotionless as ever, climbed down the stairs. The other ninja, his water respirator hiding his face, followed suit. They took places, one in front of the other, four meters separating them. In a ninja fight, four meters is only a step away from close range combat. None of them said a word. In fact, none of them made a sound.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaa… A 'Creepy Master's Battle!'"

Sakura sweat dropped but could not disagree with Naruto.

"Ready? Hajime!" announce Hayate, dropping an arm down.

"Doton: Muddy Swamp of putrefaction."

The ground answered the call of the Rain's ninja and seemed to swell murky water at an alarming rate. The whole arena was covered and Hayate chose to monitor the fight from afar, his feet glued to the walls. Shino, unfazed, didn't move a muscle, even when the green gooey fluid reached him a little over the knees.

The masked nin began to circle him, without even a hint of unease at moving around.

"We were raised in a swamp, me and my brothers…" began the Rain nin.

"My brothers and I," interrupted Shino.

"What?"

"If you bother to talk, than talk well."

The Freak'O'Meter just went up two notches.

"Yes. You're right. My apology. The point is: you'll never keep up with my speed in this. They called us 'dirty' when we were kids. We ended up learning to fight dirty."

Jumping forward, he punched Shino, or tried to. The fist didn't connect as Shino bent down but the enemy move sent a lot of mud in his sunglasses. The next blow hit him. He fell on his hands and knees only to be kicked hard in the chest. Shino gasped and reeled back from the impact. He didn't go far. The muddy ground absorbed his fall. He got up on one knee, covered with slime, one hand in the mud to help support himself, the other on in sore chest. The match barely began and he was panting.

"Doton: Muddy Shockwave."

The Rain ninja raised a hand and hit the bubbly surface of water. A wave, six foot tall above the surface, submerged Shino. The wave crashed violently against the opposite wall. As the mud cleared it, Shino slid down from it and fell, face down in the water, unmoving.

Hayate groaned. He didn't want to paddle in _that_ to confirm he was unconscious! As he though that, the body of Shino dissolved into insects. Ouf! He was _p_ close at having to go down in that putrid swamp!

"Nice try, Leaf nin, but you can't hide from me in my environment," declared the Rain ninja loudly.

He dove in the shallow water and ripples went everywhere. A moment later, Shino flew out of it, propelled by a kick. He fell down once again limply, but this time was greeted by the awaiting knee of his enemy. Once more, Shino dissolved into an incredible mass of insects. Like Shino was for the swamp, Otomaro wasn't worried to be covered with little slimy insects that were crawling all over him. It was uncomfortable though, as some of them managed to enter his clothes.

Shino silently emerged from the water behind his enemy and hit him right on the spine. Otomaro bent a little in pain but didn't wait a second more to retaliate. His kunai pierced the Leaf nin, right in a lung. Shino dissolved once again into insects that covered Otomaro's arms.

"How can you hide so well in _my_ swamp?" yelled the panicking ninja.

He turned and threw his kunai in what looked like Shino. He wasn't that surprised to see him crumble in another mass of six-legged creatures.

"In this swamp, I can hide my bugs anywhere I want," came a voice, seemingly from the swamp itself. "This is a playground for them. You should have made sure that this would not be a favorable environment for me beforehand."

As Otomaro looked left and right, more and more Shino appeared silently. Sweat trickled down Otomaro's back. He didn't want to turn and see how many clones were behind him. Then the bites began. Every pieces of flesh he had conscience of, or not, received a sting or bite from one of the numerous insect on him.

"Ha! HAAAAA! AAAARRRRRGGG! I give up! I GIVE UP!"

"Winner, Aburame Shino!" Hayate called out.

The bugs stopped their bite at once and the clones disappeared. Shino got out of the water and the bugs crawled up to him, entering his sleeves as he walked toward the balcony. He quietly climbed up the stairs, leaving few traces behind him. When he got to his team-mates, there was no more mud on him.

"Wow! I didn't know his bug had an auto-cleaning function!" Naruto said merrily.

Sakura shivered.

"If the price to pay is to always feel them beneath my skin, I rather wait to take a bath."

"I only hope they'll clean that before my fight," sighed Naruto.

"Don't worry. Look, the Rain nin is performing the counter jutsu."

Once the arena in shape to keep up the preliminaries, the board started rolling back some names.

"Next fight: Kankuro of the Sand versus Tsurugi Misumi."

They looked at the called fighters get down in the arena.

"This remember me, did you see how that Kankuro guy passed the paper test?" asked Naruto to his other teammates.

"No," answered Sakura, now curious. "How?"

"Hajime!" shouted Hayate, very calmly.

"He placed a puppet amongst the examiners! He simply copied, from the puppet's point of view, the answers of one of the hidden Chuunin in the class!"

"You're kidding?" Sakura said, outraged. "But… That's… That's cheating!"

"Yeah. It was simple enough but required great stealth," nodded Sasuke.

"Yeah. How is his match going by the way?" Naruto said, turning back toward the arena.

"Winner: Kankuro of the Sand!" called out Hayate.

They looked in time to see Kankuro's puppet let go of the lifeless body of a Leaf ninja.

"That's the problem with ninja fights!" Naruto whinned. "If you blink too slowly, you might miss the entire fight!"

Sakura turned toward him. She whispered harshly:

"How can you be so emotionless? There is a Leaf ninja that lay dead at the feet of a Sand ninja! In a preliminary match!"

Naruto whispered back to her, very calmly.

"That's because Sasuke and I think the whole Kabuto team is phoney. They're not from Konoha… or at least do not side with us. We'll tell you later in details."

"Why not now?"

"FOREHEAD GIRL! Get your ass down here fast or you'll be disqualified! Not that it's gonna change anything to the result of the match…" called Ino from the arena floor.

"It's my turn?" Sakura said, surprised.

"Look like it," naruto shrugged. "Too bad for you, you fell on Ino."

"Why are you saying that?"

"I would have liked to see you fight somebody strong. It would have been so much fun," Naruto said, winking at her.

Sakura smiled and blushed hard. The compliment was so natural that she could not help it. She kissed him right on the mouth and jumped hastily down on the arena floor. Naruto was struck speechless for a whole five seconds. Then he leaned down on the railing to watch the fight.

"She's better not do this too often or I might get used to it," he whispered, grinning wide.

Naruto suddenly felt a spike of killer intent sent his way. It was out so fast he could not trace where it came from. As he scanned the male crowd, he could not find anyone looking his way. In fact, the only one looking in his direction was… Ino. No… it could not be. Ino liked Sakura? Oh, well. Anything's possible. Down in the arena, a funny scene took place.

"Let's get this over with, Ino-pig," Sakura said, playfully.

"What was that all about?" the blond kunoichi shrieked. "You're with Naruto now?"

"What? No! It's just… it felt right with what he just told me. I don't think he saw that as anything else either," Sakura answered, batting the matter away.

"Huh… So you're still after Sasuke-kun? Trying to make him jealous maybe? I bet you let him do all the work on missions! Even with this supposed 'training', you still lack any skills. Even if you're stronger than me physically, and I don't think you can achieve that in a mere week before the Chuunin exam, you lack techniques and a specialty! I made you what you are. I know what I'm talking about," Ino finished, sure of herself.

Sakura was calm. She looked at Ino and what she saw saddened her. She'll never be able to be the friend she was with that poor, weak girl. Sakura knew of Ino's strength and weakness too. Sakura faced the truth month ago. She was lacking strength to be a great or even a good ninja. She was working on that. Ino was even below that. She easily understood how some strong ninja beame so arrogant, and how they could underestimate their enemy now. When you have to face something like that…

"Don't worry, Ino-san. They trained me to the ground. I would not be part of this team if I didn't. What about you? Training hard? As hard as you can? Until exhaustion?" asked Sakura, emotionless.

The 'Ino-san' comment offended the blond kunoichi more than she let on. Even on open 'Uchiha Brothers War', they had some sort of rough competitive friendship. She looked so… distant now. As if… she was far ahead…

"Ha! Of course! I'll show you what I can do and show Sasuke-kun what he could have had if I were in his team. I'll get him back!"

"He's all yours, if you can get him. But that's not the way to win this fight. If that's your only motivation… you're bound to lose. I won't ask you to withdraw, though. You don't believe me anyway."

"Humm… girls? I said 'Hajime' twice already," Hayate said, annoyed.

"Sorry Hayate-san," said Sakura.

On that cue, she threw two kunais toward Ino. Seeing they were aiming for her feet, Ino jump back at the last second. As they landed on the ground, the knives exploded with the power of the two detonating tag tied to them.

Ino, still in the air, was sprayed with dust and rocks. The shockwave was strong enough to send her back even further. Some stones grazed her, causing many cuts and would leave bruises. Some of them hit her hard, making her wince. What kind of explosives notes was that? She was finally about to land on the floor but her leg tripped on something. She ended up foot over head, totally entwined in metal wires.

"Activate. Now, Ino, I would strongly suggest you not to make a move and to look around you."

Ino, who had stiffened at her voice, thinking she would land some jutsu, waited until the sand from the explosion came down. When she could clearly see around her, she finally saw the totality of the web of steel wire she was hanging in. And the quantity of explosive tags tied a little everywhere in it. How can all of this even hang in the air? Oh. Kunais were stuck on the ground, walls and under the balcony all around her. They were tied at different point of the net. That's how. How did she prepared that?

"I guess you realize the situation you're into now. If you move a wire, an explosive tag will detonate. I won't even be able to stop it. In fact, it may cause the other ones to go off too."

Ino was as stiff as a board. Sakura went _mad_! How much more overkill could she get! She had to admit it, she was trapped, and afraid. She could be seriously hurt here. Or even… She looked in Sakura's eyes and saw no hesitation. She could read only determination in her face and… pity? Boredom? Ino's head went down and she sighed.

"I… give up."

"Winner: Haruno Sakura."

Sakura put her hands together, forming the dispel seal.

"Kai!"

The notes fell down to the floor, discharged of their explosive power. Sakura walked up to them and pick them up while Ino fought her way out of the wires. Sakura took back her kunais and wires and put them away for later use. She skipped all the way up the balcony, a happy tune on her lips.

"Sweet and short. A work well done," nodded her raven-haired teammate.

Sakura beamed at Sasuke's praised.

"Do I get a victory kiss too?" pleaded Naruto.

"That was a one time deal, Naruto!" Sakura said, hitting his arm playfully.

"Awwww! I could have got used to it!"

"In your dream, Blondie!" she said, rolling her eyes up.

"I'll see that tonight! So, who's next?" answered Naruto shamelessly.

"The board is still changing…. There! Temari of the Sand against Ten-Ten," called out Sasuke.

"Cool. She's on Lee and Neji's team," Naruto told Sakura. "GO GIRL!"

Sakura leaned close to whispered in Naruto's ear.

"Does she have a chance? I never saw her fight."

"I did. She'll be fine. She's on her way to become a Weapons Master."

"Weapons Master?" she repeated. "We have weapon shops and blacksmiths but they usually sell short swords and kunaïs. Where did she find her weapons?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself? After the fight, of course. You might even make a new friend! I don't think she have a lot of female ones."

Meanwhile, down in the fighting area, two girls faced each others.

"That guy… Always showing off..." snorted Temari.

"You met him before?" asked ten-Ten, curious.

"We… ran in each other in the last task. Okay, now. No offence girl, but you should give up. My brothers aren't the only two strong members of my team."

"As Neji and Lee are not the only two of mine. But you'll judge that by yourself," Ten-Ten said, shaking her head.

"Sigh. As you wish," answered Temari, who didn't expect anything else. "I warned you. One last thing. When you'll see the third sun on my fan, it will be all over."

Ten-Ten smirked. It's always the weakest dog that barks the loudest. If her training had not taken a new turn, a few years ago, she would have been offended by Temari's claim and would have boasted about her title of Weapons Master of Konoha. Yeah… She was barking real loud back then too. She remembered clearly how it happened.

* * *

How could she get stronger if she could not spare with somebody! Lee was off training with his new master, Gai-sensei. Neji was home, training his Gentle Fist. She didn't socialize much with the other kids in her class. She was laying on her back, in her bed. She looked at the wall of her bedroom where the weapons she made at the price of hundred of hours of hard work laid still. She would soon need new walls. Her parents never understood her. She was sent to the Academy like the other kids who showed any potential in the village. She trained hard but while the other kids had their parent's skill, bloodline or ability, she didn't.

Her father was a marshal for the non-ninja population of Konoha. Her mother had a little cleaning business for fine tailoring. The Lord's wife was her main customer. That woman ate like a pig!

The forge of her father, which she learned to use very young, was put to good contribution for her weapon crafting. She knew how to throw all type of weapons dead-on target. She was currently working with her range of attack and the possibility to seal weapons to be able to carry them easily, and to carry more of them. Damn was she bored! The Hell: she would disturb Neji's training and ask for a spar.

She got up, went to her collection on the wall and wonders which one she would use today. She chose two small scythes, a wooden staff, a few daggers and a spear. No need to fully equip herself for a short spar. The walk to the Hyuga mansion was uneventful. Nobody asked why a ten years old girl was walking around with enough iron to drop straight down in a lake and get out by walking in the bottom of it.

Once in the mansion, she began the search for her white-eyed friend. He wasn't at his house. He wasn't in the garden. He wasn't in the kitchens either. If she didn't bother to look in the dojo yet, it's because she saw his sensei pass, his Byakugan on, searching for him. What could possibly make Neji miss training? Anyway, if he didn't want to be found by him, his poor trainer didn't have a chance. She would bet her first hand-made kunai that Neji's Byakugan was better than his.

She decided to go look where it would be the most difficult to look through. In the patch of forest behind the mansion. All the big clans of Konoha seem to have one of those behind their district, sector or mansion. She passed the denser part with huge trees and began to hear noises of battle. Ten-Ten got extra-careful as she didn't want to get in the crossfire of a combat including Neji.

She didn't need to worry, she realised, when she entered the brightly lighted clearing. Neji was sparing in hand-to-hand combat with his half-brother, Uzumaki Naruto. Even if they were more like close cousin than brothers. Everybody knew of the 'Uchiha Brothers'. She decided to announce herself, not wanting to pass off as a voyeur or spying on their training.

"Neji! Your teacher is searching for you!" she called out.

Neji didn't even bother to turn around. Naruto would not stop his attack for such a simple distraction.

"I'm busy right now. I'm training," he said, sweating.

"He's searching for you _for_ your training, remember?"

"Yeah? Well let's just say that I'm _really_ training here!" he said, smirking.

He resumed his attack after that, having found an opening in Naruto's stance. Ten-Ten took this opportunity to observe them. The speed they went at was incredible! She knew of Neji's velocity in his attack but she had no ideas about Naruto's! He was a full year younger! Neji had the upper hand, even if just barely. Still… she sometime had the feeling that Naruto was pushing Neji to his limits, letting him always have the slight advantage in battle and making him work like a madman only to keep it… But it must be her imagination! No way could Naruto beat the Gentle Fist! He knew only of the bases and lacked the Byakugan to fully understand it. Even then, Naruto was very, very good.

"Neji! Here I find you!" called Neki's teacher, looking almost disappointed to have found his pupil. "You had a training session schedule with me this morning, remember?"

"Sorry Sensei," Neji answered, bowing to Naruto and getting a careless wave in exchange, "I forgot."

"I'm sure you did. Again. Come on now. Sorry Naruto, Hyugas only."

"No problem, man! I already refused it from Hiashi a few time now. See ya Neji!" waved off the blond.

"See ya," replied Neji, barely hiding his grin.

Neji's trainer was a little upset that him and the Byakugan were dismissed by that boy that easily, but could not do anything about it. Hiashi-sama still had a soft spot for the kid. On top of that, Naruto was the reason he didn't have to wear a curse seal anymore. He simply bowed to him slightly and guided Neji toward the dojo. Naruto watch them go and turned toward Ten-Ten.

"So… my training session 'been cut short. Wanna spar? I have at least an hour and a half before having to go home," Naruto said, turning toward Ten-Ten.

"You have to go home? You don't have any parents!"

She put both her hands on her mouth, realizing what she just said. How could she say something that cruel?

"Sorry!" she almost shouted, seing Naruto's face change instantly. "I didn't mean to… Sorry! Really, really, really, really sorry! I'm so stupid… I didn't think! I…"

"No, you didn't, but I'll forgive you. That's… a common reaction. Sasuke's waiting for me. We train a lot together, but not always so we don't get sick of each other."

"If your offer to spar still stands…" she asked shyly.

"It does," Naruto answered seriously.

"Okay… Then… hum…"

"Here I come," finished Naruto, not one to hesitate.

He jumped at her, sending a fury of Academy style punches and kicks. This was not the style he was using with Neji! This wasn't even near the speed he was using back then! He underestimates her! Probably because she was a girl. Still, she's a year older! She would have none of this. Her answer came fast and hard.

She developped her own fighting style and she was proud of it. She began dancing around in the clearing, dodging every attack sent her way or blocking some, with a little more power than necessary. She wanted to show him. She wasn't a Chinese doll! She made use of the superiority of her style compared to the one they teach at the Academy. The Academy style wasn't bad… but it was all general actions. It would answer to any kind of attack sent your way in an efficient, but predictable way. That's why every family keep the secret of the training behind their fighting style. It's unpredictable. She mostly had a self-teach martial art, but she could kick ass with it. And it went well with her weapons.

Naruto began to use more speed to counter her, but it laid places for openings! As soon as she saw one, instead of butting in it with her fist, she took a step back and threw a scythe, then she threw the other. The first flew by him, but he had to block the other with his arm. A large puncturing wound started to bleed where the sharp blade stuck. Naruto was wincing hard. He let out a loud hissing noise as he pulled out the blade.

"Oh NO! I'm so sorry! Now I hurt you! Man, should have I stayed in bed this morning! Literally! You must soooo hate me now! Let's go, I'll get you to the hospital, I'll explain everything!"

"If you can keep your mouth shut, I won't have to," grumbled Naruto.

"What?" she asked, confused and panicked.

"You promise to keep this quiet? I really mean it, not a single word must be heard of this," he said, looking at her seriously.

"Yeah, I promise."

Naruto looked hard in her eyes. She felt judged on the spot, as if he was scanning for any trace of malice on her face. He must have come at a good verdict since he closed the distance between him and her and moved the hand over his injury. The flesh was almost done mending itself.

"Whaaaa? How come?"

"The demon. He's healing me. He won't let me stay hurt for long. Look like it's in his best interest to keep me alive and healthy."

Ten-Ten was a bit scared. She knew, like everybody else, that Naruto was the carrier of Kyubi, the Nine-Tail bijuu. But to see an actual proof of it… That was something else entirely.

"Does it hurt?" she asked sweetly. "Not the wound… but… the demon? Does he…. hurt you inside?"

Naruto smiled sadly.

"Don't worry. I don't even feel him, most of the time. It's all healed up now. Let's get back to training. Don't hold back because you could hurt me. In fact, it's better to be me at the receiving end of your weapons. You can't cause me any lasting damage."

"Okay, if you say so…" she said, hesitating.

Training resumed with Ten-Ten being a lot more careful. The problem was, you can't really train if you don't target your enemy to hit him. She could not keep up very long as Naruto pushed her to her limits. She had to let her weapons fly closer and closer to him each time she threw them. Naruto was closing in from everywhere! Then he went to use some technique from afar. As a reflex, she threw both her scythe in a boomerang arc so they would both land on him. Then she realized what would happen if it hits. As it was, Naruto cancelled out the technique and caught both weapon by the handle.

"_Now_ you're talking!" he said, grinning. "We can really start the training over!"

He threw them back at her. _Fast_! She barely had the time to dodge both of then with a slide and a split as they stuck themselves in the trees behind her. She switched between taijutsu and weapon throwing madly, only to try to keep up. And Naruto was still using the Academy fighting style. She had to face it: even if he was a year younger, he was out of her league. Forty minutes later, he called out a break. It was about damn _time_! She was panting and crumbled to the ground. She could not manage a single hit!

"Ten-Ten… What were you doing?" Naruto asked, looking pensive.

"Wha… What… do you mean?" she asked back, confused herself.

"You're a weapon user! Why aren't you using your weapons?"

"I did! All the time! I just can't hit you with them anymore! You're just too fast!"

Naruto looked at her strangely.

"Have you ever though of… actually using the weapon in close range combat instead of throwing it away? Once it left your hands, you can't use it until you get it back."

"Which is why I'll try to seal them to be able to carry more of them," explained Ten-Ten, aware of that weakness very well.

"Not useful," countered Naruto. "You'll always run out of blades before the end of a fight."

"So… what do you suggest?" she asked, still sitting on the ground.

"Keep it in your hands and fight with it! If you still want to throw it, find a way to get it back. You're a weapons specialist! Here's a task for you: choose a weapon and search the library for every single fighting style that uses it. Practice every moves and attacks. Spar with me with that weapon every chances we get for a month. As a final test, at the end of one month of training, you'll be destroying a stone dummy. If you can't accomplish that, then you haven't master the weapons yet. You'll have to practice again until you manage to do it so you can start over again with another weapon. All the while, search for a way to make them get back to you. You have a great skill. It's your original one. It only needs development."

"How did you come up with all this?" she asked, amazed.

"Let's just say that I became good at thinking of new training methods. We should start now. What weapon will you begin with?"

Ten-Ten looked down. She had to choose _one_ weapon type! She would not touch another for one full month! That was so cruel! Still…

"Bo. The wooden staff."

"Always keep your mind open for possibilities. Its study time at the Academy's library now! Search for every martial art that uses a staff."

Her weapon mastery quest began anew.

* * *

Back to the present, Ten-Ten was observing Temari. She knew her adversary was strong. Her village would not have sent her otherwise. Hopefully, she wasn't weak either. She took a small scroll, opened it and unsealed a staff. That was no wooden staff. It seemed to be made of some kind of dark steel that gave no reflection of light.

Temari, seeing that, shivered a little. She must not get it by that or they would be cleaning her brain cells on the walls.

Ten-Ten put the staff on her back and took another small scroll. Two small scythes tied to each other by a long steel wire came out.

Temari took out her fan.

"Hajime!"

Ten-Ten bent down lazily and took a small rock that was laying there. Without warning, she threw it hard at Temari's face. The Sand nin moved her head from the projectile's course. She looked back at Ten-Ten.

"Are you at the level to throw pebbles at me yet? Wow. I underestimated you."

Ten-Ten ignored the taunt superbly. She bent down again and took a good bunch of rocks. Then she started to juggle with them.

"Very entertaining, but the judges are here to see a fight, not a circus show," mocked Temari.

Temari's eyes widen as the rocks suddenly went at her. So fast! It was as if they were all thrown at the same time! The fan wielder opened her weapon, showing a sun draw on it, and made a large swipe with it. The metallic weapon created a gust of wind that knocked the stones away.

"So…that's how you use that fan," mumbled Ten-Ten, dropping the remaining rocks she had in hand.

The leaf kunoichi took back her scythes that were hanging patiently at her belt to be used.

"Let's see how you dodge this," she said, a bit louder.

She threw both her scythes sideway and changed their course by pulling the wire that connected them by the middle. Temari could not deflect weapons that came from different direction like this. She simply jumped back, out of the way.

Ten-Ten jumped after her, calling back her sharp blades and send them back at her enemy in a whip-like move. The speed was the one of a snake striking. Temari opened her fan a little wider, showing a second sun, and swiped it sideway to send the scythes back to their user. Ten-Ten caught them as she landed. Temari was already on the ground, preparing her first attack. For the third time, wind went in Ten-Ten's way but it was finally aiming at the Leaf kunoichi. She caught her. Ten-Ten crossed her arm in front of her to face the gale. She went down on one knee. Her clothes threatened to rip themselves off of her. She gritted her teeth but hold on until the air around her stopped moving.

She got back up slowly, a little shaken but unhurt by the attack. Temari had a little smirk on her lips. Ten-Ten's face closed. She took a kunai from her pouch that had a scroll tied to it. The scroll wasn't large, but very thick. Temari didn't seem to be in a hurry to get back at her, so she took the time to hook the end of the scroll on her wrist. Then she took the kunai and prepared to throw it. Temari readied her fan to send it back. Ten-ten throw it with all her strength, sending it right… on the ceiling, behind Temari. The scroll was very long. They're was a multitude of small but thick seals on it.

The scroll emitted the distinct sound and smoke of a summon and from it came a rain of sharp and pointy caltrops. The smalls, but heavy metal projectiles were gaining speed toward the ground, right where Temari was standing.

She could just have jumped far out of the way, but why not use a weapons so kindly sent your way? The fan wielder jumped back just a little and waited for them to be at the best angle to strike. She opened her fan up to its last sun and let out a massive wind attack toward the weapon master. The sharps blades of air caught the projectiles as they were about to reach her, and sent them back at full speed toward their owner.

Ten-Ten, on the other side of the arena, would have been ripped to shred by that combo attack had she not be ready. She already got rid of the scroll tied to her wrist and summoned another weapon. The small spear seemed dangerous to Temari, but she could not explain why. It was black and shiny.

As her own weapons were closing in on her, Ten-Ten threw the spear at her adversary. The spear faced the gale, passed the projectiles and stuck in the wall behind the Sand kunoichi who barely dodged it, not believing it passed her wind attack so easily. It must weight a ton! She turned back to Ten-ten only to be greeted by the hundreds of caltrop that she had just send back! She took a good deal of damage before being able to put her fan in front of her. She blocked the rest but they were pushing so hard! Even after hitting her fan, they pushed on it until they slide over and hit the wall behind her! Her fan seemed to weight so much all of the sudden. As the attack died, she put her fan down, panting... and almost lost it. It tried to stick to the wall behind her! As she looked back, she saw the totality of the caltrops covering the spear. She made the connection.

"A magnetic weapon..."

Ten-Ten ran to her, handling her staff with ease. Temari manage to block the attack with her unfolded fan, which she could not fold back anyway. The caltrops seemed to have damaged it. Ten-Ten then showed her how much of a weapon specialist she was. Each attack made the fan shake and bent on some places. Temari had a hard time between the magnetic spear who still tried to get her fan and Ten-Ten's fast and powerful attack.

She took many hit she could not totally parry but was still holding her own. Barely. Then, Ten-Ten shove the end of her staff directly against the unfolded fan. She pierced the metal and the staff struck Temari right in the stomach. She bent in two, eyes wide and her mouth opened in a silent shout of pain. Her knee buckled beneath her and she let go of her fan, losing the magnetic battle. As she found some of her breath back, very painfully, she looked up to see Ten-Ten holding her staff to the side of her forehead.

"Give up," she commanded.

"I can't," whispered Temari.

Ten-Ten, as feared by Temari at the beginning of the fight, struck her on the side of the head with her staff. The kunoichi fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Winner: Ten-Ten of the Leaf."

The soon to be Weapons Master took some time to get all her weapons and seal them away. Naruto whisled hard and sent her a thumb up from the balcony. She smiled to him and returned the gesture.

Kankuro went down in the arena and picked up his sister's body. He took her back to him and Gaara's position on the balcony that was strangely deserted. He laid her against the wall and took care of her injuries. The worst blow she took seem to be on the head. She would have a huge bump on the head and a killer headache but it wasn't any more serious than that. He bandaged the deep scratches she had on her from the caltrop rain. There was better suited medic nin around, but the hell if they would ask any help from Konoha ninja's.

"So…Training seems to be paying up, Ten-Ten!" Naruto said as the girl walked up to him.

"If not to distract you for your next fight, Naruto, I would do the same thing that Sakura did to you earlier!" she said, her head close to his.

"That's easy to solve! Let's just say you owe me one! Why not on a date? Let's say… after the exam? A Saturday at eight? I'll come and pick you up. I know some nice places."

Ten-Ten, taken aback, blushed but nodded nonetheless. She turned toward her teammates who were waiting for her and practically skipped over to them, still red in the face.

"And they say girls are mostly after me…" Sasuke said, lifting an eyebrow.

"They are, Aniki! I'm just taking the opportunities that life offers me! Why not have some fun once in a while?"


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other Characters related. I'm not as jealous as Aniplex!**

* * *

The flashboard rolled up names once again and announced the next fight. It was punctuated by a 'troublesome' from somewhere on the balcony. The second ninja from the Rain team got down, jumping over the railing. He waited for his adversary, tapping his foot on the floor. Shikamaru stopped once he faced his enemy, yawned wide and repeated 'troublesome'.

"Ready? Hajime!" said Hayate, giving the signal.

"You know, I'm used to fight in team with my two brothers, but my own skills are more than a match for you," started the masked ninja.

The ninja made hand seals in, what must be to him, a fast motion. Shikamaru had the time to know what the jutsu did and how to beat this guy even before he called out the name of the technique.

"Water Clone no Jutsu!"

Water clones appeared, as expected, about fifteen of them.

"Ha! What do you think of that? Rarely can anyone make that much clones! You dispel some? I can make more. Surrender now or I'll swarm you."

Shikamaru scratched the back of his head.

"-Sigh- What a troublesome guy. Why don't I just give up?" he mumbled to himself.

He turned toward Ino who was glaring at him.

"Huh, that must be why. Man… I should have become an accountant. Well, since I'm here…"

He formed a seal and his demeanour changed radically. Now he mean business.

"Shadow imitation no jutsu."

His shadow stretched toward the first clone. The Rain clone jumped to avoid it, but Shikamaru's shadow caught the clone's one. It landed and didn't move. But the shadow user was far from done. By catching that shadow, he extended his range. The masked ninja understood the danger but could not stop the prowling darkness. He usually goes in close range combat since he had no long or medium range jutsu. But as soon as a clone approached his enemy, he sent a new tendril of shadow from the ground between his feet, or from another captured shadow, and trapped it. The original could only look as his clones were captured one by one.

The rain nin tried throwing kunaïs or wires in an attempt to dispel the technique. Shikamaru dodged them by simply moving his head out of the way most of the time. On one attack, a knife grazed his cheek.

"Tsst! You're gonna pay for that," he hissed, getting bothered.

The ten clone's shadow shot a dark spike toward him, on the ground. The foreign ninja jumped away but was caught as soon as he went down low enough to make a shadow appear. Shikamaru finally let the seal go, hands at his side. He would not be able to control that many clones for long. Had it been real peoples, he would not have been able to keep it at all. He had to act quickly.

"Ha! If I understand your useless technique well, you attack me and that make me attack you. That's such a stupid technique!"

"Yeah, you're right," shrugged the Nara. "But I'm still the one controlling you."

Shikamaru walked to a far wall. He moved in a way that the clones and their creator placed themselves face to it. They were close to each others. In fact, they were all right next to each others. Shikamaru turned left. His slave did the same, forming a perfect line, one behind an other.

"What, are you gonna make us dance now?"

Shikamaru looked at them, calculating his shot. He raised his right hand. The controlled crowd did the same. Then he shot it down violently, right in front of him.

The result of such a simple manoeuvre was stunning. The spectators watched as the clone dispelled themselves, hitting each other at the base of the neck. The original received a hit from the clone behind him. His eyes rolled in his socket and he fell to the floor, unconscious.

Hayate went at the Rain nin, who's name was already forgotten, and raised his arm toward the shadow user.

"Winner: Nara Shikamaru."

Sasuke, watching all of this with polite interest, said the first thing that came to mind.

"Why am I not surprised?"

"Because he's a Nara," answered Naruto. "Remember how Shikamaru told us what happened last time his mother sent his father do the groceries?"

"Yeah. He paid a thousand yen for the full basket of a woman already in line to pay her own groceries. Then he paid for the items at the cashier and got home. His wife was very surprised how good he was at picking fresh vegetables in the right season..." Sasuke said, shaking his head.

"Yeah. Look like laziness runs in the family. Hey, look! Its my turn! About time!"

Naruto didn't lose any more time and jumped over the railing. He jogged at the middle of he arena to meet his adversary.

"I would have liked to fight Gaara or Lee but I guess you'll have to do," he said to his adversary.

"So... I'm not even a second choice," growled Kiba. "I guess I'll have to give my best not to deceive you then, milord."

His voice, dripping with sarcasm until then, became like his face. Dead serious.

"Kurenai-sensei told us you are strong. She said something about a strong enemy listed in the bingo book. From anyone else, I would have said that's a load of crap. But sensei never lied to us."

Naruto was a little jealous of him. His sensei lied to them first thing in the morning. He would have to find out about that, now that he though about it. Why is he always so late?

"I won't make the mistake of underestimating you, Uzumaki Naruto. You'd be better to do the same. Brace yourself."

The man-beast combo took a pose, Kiba standing on all four on the floor, Akamaru at his side, ready.

"Beast Mimicry: All-Fours Jutsu!"

Kiba decided to begin the fight right there and then. Hopefully, Hayate already gave the signal or he could have been disqualified for a technicallity. The result of his technique was obvious. The canine, the sharper claw-like nails... He became more bestial. Naruto took a defensive stance and waited for the attack, that did not come. Look like he wasn't done yet. His white dog, Akamaru, jumped on his head. Kiba flipped a soldier pill at him and took one himself.

They took a pose, Kiba standing on all four on the floor and Akamaru on his back.

"Beast Human Clone no jutsu!"

Now what? It was Akamaru's turn to turn in a perfect replica of the soldier pill boosted, beast enhanced Kiba!

"GATSUUGA!"

Kiba and his pet, who were not so far of Naruto, turned out to be quite a surprise. Both of them became twisters that ripped everything that stood in their path. With this unexpected increase in speed, Naruto barely had the chance to throw himself on the ground. The spinning duo soared above him, ripping his shirt and clawing at him. The blond got back up and observed. After two more pass, that he dodged each time a lot easier, he noticed they had to slow down to change direction. They slowed down just enough...

As he saw the pair passes him a third time, he prepared a jutsu. Sasuke would be proud! As he made the seals, he frowned. Then he releases the technique.

"Katon: Mythical Fire Flower!"

Smaller versions of the Grand Fireball shot from his mouth, directly in the funnel of the two living tornados. The result was immediate. Kiba and Akamaru fell to the floor, blazing in flames. They rolled quickly on the floor but it was too late. They already took some damage. Kiba's fur coat took the most of the fire, as did Akamaru's fur as he returned to his bestial form.

Kiba got up, angry. His face was stinging like mad! He was furious that a single move could so easily defeat his jutsu-beast mastery combo! How could he find a weakness so easily? And to get out of it practically unharmed? He wasn't done yet. He did not get that far to give up now.

Kiba rushed Naruto, starting a taijutsu fight. Naruto seemed relaxed, although his style, that looked a lot like the Gentle fist, was pretty aggressive. While Kiba could not land a clean hit, Naruto pummelled him. Akamaru tried to join the fray but that proved to be a mistake. Naruto wasn't about to let himself get biten. The memory of Orochimaru's fangs was still fresh in his mind.

As the white dog jumped on him, Naruto caught him by the collar. He the held him in the air in front of him, using the collar like a choker. Kiba had to stop his attack so not to hit his best friend, now in the hand of his enemy.

"Put him down!" he screamed.

"This is getting ridiculous. Give up," stated Naruto.

"Never!" Kiba objected, helpless before his hurting best friend.

"Then it shows that you're not ready to become a Chuunin. You should have realized by now you're outclassed. In a mission, that means retreat and regroup to come back later, stronger. Ignoring that fact is sheer stupidity and vanity. There is no sense in dying while trying, especially without any hope of winning. Imagine an instant you would lead your teammates in a mission and the very same situation arose. You would be risking their lives at this point. Is that how a Chuunin should think?"

Kiba was still panting. He closed his eyes, tears almost falling while his teeth were grinding. He walked up to Naruto and slowly picked up Akamaru, who was still hanging in mid-air by his collar at the end of the blond's arm.

"I give up," he simply said, taking his dog away, loosening his collar to help him breath.

Naruto put his hands back in the pockets of his white, baggy shorts. He climbed the stairs, his mind in turmoil. He didn't even hear Hayate claim him as the victor.

"You seemed worried, Aniki," said Sasuke. "Are you frustrated from your ripped shirt and some scratches in your back?"

"Not quite, Sasuke. What's bothering me is that when I tried to use my chakra, it... tried to escape... inside of me. The technique of Snake-face must be responsible. I can't control my chakra very well."

"But... the jutsu worked!" countered Sasuke, wide-eyed.

"Yeah... well... I managed to control it a bit," Naruto said, looking away.

Sasuke was clearly surprised. Naruto took a chakra disturbing technique from a Sanin and he still could use jutsus.

"I really need to see the Toad Hermit now. I can't do shit like this," mumbled Naruto.

Hinata walked toward him, looking like a beaten puppy.

"Hey! Sweetie! Why the long face?" he asked, his smile coming back faster than Choji eating potatoe chips.

Hinata got some color to her face and manage to point the billboard where her's and Neji's names were flashing.

"Damn. Unlucky you. But you know what? I've got something to say to you," he began whispering.

Naruto, despite the steam that was almost coming out of Hinata's ears, put a hand on her shoulders and look at her in the eyes. She regained some of her composure when she saw that he was no longer smiling.

"You are Hinata Hyuga, the heir of the Hyuga clan. You are one of their pride. Neji's stronger than you but you _need_ to fight him. Not only for you but for him and for your clan. He has a chance at becoming Chuunin? Make sure he works for it. Show him your spirit. Make _him_ wish the billboard had rolled on someone else."

Hinata, for the first time of her short life, looked at him for a long time with barely a hint of a blush, never adverting her gaze. She walked down the stairs in a haze, mouth opened, head down. She stopped at her place like a robot.

"Hinata-sama, let's not do this," almost begged Neji, already in place.

He looked truly down. He didn't want to hurt Hinata's feeling by telling her crudely she could not win this but it was the reality! He rather hurt her mentally than physically though.

"Hinata-sama, please give up..."

But he was interrupted as his cousin threw her head back and laughed loudly. She then looked at him straight, an amused, even hungry smile on her face. She locked eyes with him and seemed eager to get it on. She turned to Hayate and snapped at him.

"HEY REF! What are you waiting for? New Year's EVE?"

"Hai! Hajime!" Hayate rushed out.

Hinata jumped on her cousin, making familiar seals.

"Byakugan!"

Neji, surprised, activated his a split second before having to stop the first series of hits.

"You though I would let you off that easily, cousin?" she said mockingly. "Big mistake! You're going to have to earn this the hard way!"

Who was that and what did she do with her cousin? Neji couldn't avoid a punch to graze an arm so much he was surprised. That woke him up. He pushed Hinata away by sending a few aggressive defence moves. He managed to get his stance on and a fresh start. He was still stunned by Hinata's new confidence.

"You're stronger, Neji? You'll win? Alright! But let this particular victory cost you. Sometime, mission will seem easy, already won right after you read the mission scroll. If you're not giving your best at every missions and underestimate your opponents, you're going to end up with unpleasant surprises. Brace yourself, cousin, because I pulled all the brakes!"

Hinata charged him with a loud war cry. So surprised he was thyat, once again, a second hit found it's mark right on his left arm. A chakra induced hit. No tenketsu were touched, but it hurt like a heavy fire burn! He knew he was in for a nice chakra bruise the next morning.

Hinata pressed her advantage by focussing her attacks on his left side. Neji had to back-pedal behind the rages of her strikes. Very soon, he had his back to a wall. She cornered him! He truly was in a bad spot.

He started evading her attack instead of parrying. Her hands never ceased their assaults. She hit the walls a few time instead of her cousin. Stone and cement was ripped off the wall by her opened palms strikes. She suddenly got tired to use her hands. Why not try some kicks?

The Gentle fist didn't put much emphasis on the feet exept for the footwork leading to the punches. She decided to change that right there. Hinata's leg went flying around, expulsing chakra from her feet as if she was climbing a tree.

Neji tried to jump away to get his breathing back but his cousin was giving him a hard time, chasing him around. He didn't even have the time to think! Then he realized. He was a genius. He always knew what to do, but Hinata was ripping him out of this by cutting on his thinking time. That was so cool of her!

Neji caught a leg and blocked the other kick that came from it's owner. He took the legs and pulled hard on it. Hinata left the ground and flew across the arena as Neji threw her away. He took that little break to push a bit of chakra in his left arm. It regulated its circulation a bit but he would need to rest to get it back to normal. Time he didn't have right now. The fight began anew. It was Hinata's rage against Neji's brain.

On the balcony, since the first strike, every mouths were gapping. If not for the raging battle below, you could hear a pin drop.

Punch, block. Punch, kick, grab: throw. They were surrounded by a light blue hue resulting on their continuous energy charged strikes that ended up in the air. Hinata was breathing harder but she kept on. Her usual battles were far more moderate! But this was the fight of her life and no way was she about to fall down because of a lack of stamina!

Neji saw that too. He was used to long fights and sparring matches, having Naruto and Lee as training partners. No way was he about to let her lose because of a lack of stamina! He increased his pace. He would finish this in one powerful blow while she was at the top of her performance.

Neji got passed her defences, so close to her he could count the number of blood vessel bulging around her eyes. He hit her hard, both palms on her chest. As if in slow motion, Hinata's upper body went back, blood pouring out of her mouth. Suddenly her feet seemed to glue to the floor and she balanced back in a skull-cracking head butt! The male Hyuga never saw that one coming. His world exploded in blue sparks and stars as he lost his balance and fell down flat on his back, eyes closed. He was panting hard, down on the ground, still seeing stars behind his closed eyelids. He managed to raise his back up, sitting on the arena floor. He was so dizzy! What was that? He tried to get up but his legs refused to obey him. It was a chakra-induced head butt! His balance center must have been affected.

Neji was panicking. He could not lose! He could not… But he could not get up. Wow. He lost. He could not think anything passed that she deserved it.

"I…"

"Winner: Hyuga Neji."

He finally opened his eyes. Hayate was over Hinata's body. She was face down on the ground, unconscious. That attack took the last of her energy. Neji took all of his time getting up and joined the medic nin that was checking on his cousin.

"She'll be okay," he said after a few diagnostic. "She's mostly exhausted and some chakra burns. We'll take her to the infirmary."

"I'll take her there," Neji stated firmly.

He took his cousin carefully in his arms, at the price of almost falling backward. Then, he left the arena on shaking legs.

Naruto was the first to close his mouth. And to open it again.

"Wow. I think I'll start sparring with Hinata! It looks like fun!"

Sakura sweatdropped. Sasuke chuckled.

"It won't work, Aniki. She won't stop fainting," he told his brother.

"Huh? Why so?" asked Naruto, now totally lost.

"Aniki… you can be so dense sometime," sighed Sasuke.

"Huh?" was the eloquent reply.

"Nevermind. Look, it's Gaara's turn. He's going to fight… Lee. That should be worth watching."

Naruto was cheering loudly for his friend and Sasuke even sent a nod his way. Lee put up his 'nice guy pose' before falling in a stance. He would have to be serious. Naruto warned him. Gaara simply crossed his arms.

"Hajime!"

The Brothers played commentators as the fight went.

"Look at this! Lee's really giving it all! He's attacking from every direction, evading the sand retaliation! The hits seem to carry some major power behind them too," began Naruto.

"Yeah, but the sand defence of Gaara seems to be holding out just fine. I can't see a flaw in it yet. Gaara doesn't need to move at all. It is to wonder if that guy ever bothered to learn taijutsu at all," Sasuke countered.

The Uchiha Brothers looked at each others.

"That could be a serious weakness to exploit, Sasuke."

"Indeed, Aniki. Still, if no changes in status occur, Lee will run out of steam before Gaara runs out of demonic chakra."

Naruto and Sasuke acted as if they didn't see the jump from everyone else. It was a brutal way to announce that the guy was a demon carrier like Naruto. Now they knew why he was so strong.

"Even then, Sasuke, it will take a few hours before Lee get tired. Maybe Gaara will become impatient and try something else."

"That's a possibility, Naruto. Look, Lee took a higher ground. Maybe he's the one who's going to do something first."

Gai-san shouted something at Lee and this one started to laugh, as if he was relieved from a heavy weight. The next moments, these weights crashed to the floor and dug profound craters. The Uchiha's Brothers jaw dropped, with all the others. They knew they were heavy but _that_ heavy? Lee had become a taijutsu monster right under their noses. They felt a little relieved they didn't have to face him in the preliminaries, particularly Naruto with his chakra dancing tango whenever he tried to make a jutsu. They would have to work hard on their speed in the next month.

Gaara's defence could not follow such speed and power. For a moment, Naruto though he would have to organize a match outside the Chuunin exam between him and Gaara to respect his part of the promise. Then he would have to prepare to face Lee in the finals. That would be fun…

But then, Lee pierced Gaara's defence with a clean hit right on the head. They saw the sand armor. Naruto's face closed. Lee tried the lotus. Naruto had been impressed but knew it would not be enough. Gaara was not a 'one-trick kind of guy'. He had strategies for tougher adversaries.

The second Lotus was what truly shocked Naruto. Sasuke didn't say a thing but looked with rapt attention. The danger of death from the after-shock was very real. They knew how Rock wanted power to prove his and his master's way of the ninja to the world. They should have seen that one coming.

But even that didn't work. While the other cheered loudly in awe, thinking another victory for the Leaf had been added, the higher level ninja saw Lee's moment of distraction in the technique that gave Gaara the opportunity to escape. Lee wasn't prepared for such an abuse of his body. Naruto would have to talk to him. In private.

The match was practically over. Lee had lost his speed. He could barely walk. Even if he was standing, and Gaara was not, it was clear to every one present who had the advantage. Gaara's face was mutilated by the sand armor cracking everywhere on him but his eyes showed a burning intensity. He raised a single hand. The sand was creeping on the ground toward Lee as this one tried to get away as fast as possible. The crawling mass caught up to him and trapped one of his arm and leg, tripping him on the ground. Lee pulled and pulled, dragging himself on the floor with his free hand and leg but he could barely manage to stop the sand's advance! He was stuck!

Naruto was looking at this, intrigued. He never saw that technique before. The sand was wrapping around Lee's limbs, and Gaara was about to close his hand, as if he would…

"GAARAAAAAAAAAA!"

The loud shout stopped everyone in their tracks. Even Lee stopped struggling to look at him. Naruto had all of Gaara's attention now.

"If you... purposely…injure Lee…permanently…forget my promise. No fight. No talk. No nothing," Naruto said, both his hands white from gripping the railing and his face a showing nothing but boiling anger.

Things seemed to float in the air. Gaara turned toward Lee. Lee turned toward Gaara. The green-clad ninja jerked his arm and leg free without much resistance. The Sand nin woke up painfully. Even injured, he looked menacing. Rock tried to back down as Gaara headed his way. He crawled backward, trying to put as much distance as possible between them. The crazy teen just walked in his direction. His sand was taking forms of inhuman jaws that attacked each others. Gaara was impassive in his own deranged state. He ended up standing over Lee, this later having his back to a wall.

"Rock…Lee. Uzumaki asked me not to… permanently… damage you. But I've got to win this to fight him," he said calmly.

Gaara twitched from his left eye.

"Could you… give up?"

His eye twitched twice.

"Please?"

Lee was scared shitless.

"Well…" -gulp- "Since you're asking so nicely… there is no shame in bowing down to a stronger enemy…I guess."

Lee felt he would have to hit his logs a few hundred thousands more times before facing off Gaara again.

"Hayate-san? I give up!" he shouted from his sitting position.

"Winner: Gaara of the Sand!" the referee said, tring to hide his confusion toward what just happenned.

Sasuke whispered to Naruto discreetly, who was still looking at Gaara, down in the arena.

"Naruto... You're strong."

"What do you mean, Aniki?" Naruto asked without turning his head.

"You managed to put Rock Lee in a situation where he actually gave up. On top of that, even if Gaara was declared the winner, not touching Lee after you asked him is as if he was admitting your own superiority."

"I didn't see it like that! You think I could make him say 'uncle' in our match?" asked Naruto mockingly.

"Nobody say that."

"You're right. I'll try to make him say 'I like furry carpet' instead. That's more of a challenge."

-sight-"Who's left to fight?" Sasuke said, trying to change subjects.

"Akimichi Choji versus Otomaro Michi. Hajime!" Hayate called, the last match having the two last contestants.

The last of the masked ninja didn't lose any time boosting. Both his brothers fell to Konoha's ninja! He would avenge them by killing this one right under their nose.

He made a complicated seals and disappeared from Choji's sight. The air wavered before the fat ninja while he took a battle stance. Then his eye lit up at the sheer quantity of _food_ that appeared before him! Steaks, breads, rolls, drinks, name it: it was there! Even his heavenly chips! Choji sat down on the ground and started to fill himself up.

His comrade looked at him, chewing on air. They all sweatdropped. The subject of the genjutsu wasn't lost to anyone. His adversary walked calmly to him and drew a kunai. He raised it in the air but Choji froze in his foodless chewing.

He was having the time of his life! At last! Enough food to roll him under the table! He got to the last chip of his first bag and delightfully, took a bite. And froze. It tasted _exactly_ like the others. This was a fake. This was all fake! How _dare_ he treat food like that!

Choji stood up, fire in his eyes. He roared, sending the backstabbing ninja on his ass.

"KAI!"

The illusion was ripped apart. Choji turned on himself, searching for the culprit. When his eyes fell on him, his growl deepened. He put his hands together.

"Multi-size technique!"

He instantly inflated to thirty time his original size. The poor illusionist tried to run. Choji simply jumped in the air and landed on him, flattening him in an floor-chattering body slam. When he stood back up, after rolling back and forth for good measure, the pancake-ninja was unconscious.

"Winner: Akimichi Choji!"

Everybody stood silent, amazed. But it was not the same amazement that was present in the inter-Hyuga match. More like a "what the hell?" kind of amazement.

"Was that really a ninja match?" asked Naruto.

"Well… it was for the genjutsu part, at least," answered Sakura. "The rest was more like an overkill sumo move."

"Why don't you go tell him that for fun?" smirked Sasuke.

* * *

**Nothing to say, nope. So I won't write anything. I... ha, dammit.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I found a way to own Naruto. I named one of my bunnies Naruto. And I own it. So I own Naruto. It's almost the same, is it? IS IT?**

* * *

The rest of the event was uneventful. They learned the fighting order for the finals, a month from there, and were told to train during that time. They would be freed of missions. Kakashi was waiting for them at the exit.

"Wow. All three of you passed the first, second and part of the third task. All three of you have a shot at becoming Chuunin, next month. No jokes: I'm proud. I'd like to make a gift to you as a reward but it would be like giving a toy to a child that received a good mark. Truly now, you are growing up," their sensei said seriously.

"There is something you could do to reward us, Kakashi-sensei!" said Naruto, a light smile on his face.

Kakashi didn't trust that smile at all.

"And that would be?"

"Show us your face."

That was Sasuke. Look like they had planned to ask him that for a while now.

"Maaaa… Sorry Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun. Can't do."

"Why so? Are you horribly scarred?"

"No. Nothing of the like."

"Then what?"

"I don't want to catch a cold."

Team Seven sweatdropped.

"Well then! Moving on to the matter at hand! You three have serious training for the next month to do!" Kakashi announced, clapping his hands.

"Yeah" answered Naruto, "We do. But I have to go see Jiraiya-sama before undertaking any training at all."

"What for?"

"Orochimaru put a seal on me. I figure the best one to removed it is his ex-teammate who's a seal master."

"Right. That seal. I heard of it from the medic who treated you. I'm sorry, that's out of my league," Kakashi apologized, shaking his head.

"Don't worry, sensei. I'll try to weasel some training from him at the same time. You'll be able to concentrate on Sasuke and Sakura."

"Actually…"

The boys from Team Seven turned toward Sakura.

"Not that you're not effective, sensei, but I'll train with Haku for the next month. I feel he has things to teach me that would help me a lot."

"Bastards. You're leaving me alone with the Cyclops?" growled Sasuke.

Naruto and Sakura tried hard not to laugh at Sasuke's face. He didn't seems too warm up at the idea of having all of Kakashi's attention.

"Gambate-ne, Aniki, you'll probably need it!" said Naruto, patting him in the back.

* * *

Kakashi told him he would probably find the Toad Hermit in a crowded area. What he knew of the guy was that he wasn't hermit by choice.

Naruto had a bag with a towel, soap, a bathing brush and a CD player. He would soak in a hot spring before his search. He liked to bath in burning hot water, sitting on a rock. But the baths were not the main source of his relaxation. He hoped to be lucky today. He changed, a simple towel around his hips, with his bowl containing his other towels and cleaning supplies in hands. He was humming to himself, his CD player on his ears. As he entered the bath, he opened his eyes he had kept closed, listening to the music and beating the beat lightly with his head.

The baths were already occupied. By half a dozen almost naked young woman. He froze totally, letting drop his bowl on the ground. The girls turned toward him, eyeing him curiously.

"G-g-g-GOMEN! I didn't realize! I must have misread the sign again! Gomen!"

The girls were giggling at his red face as he tried to get back his stuff on the ground, only to almost lose his towel. The poor boy tried so much to keep his head down!

"He's so kawaiii!" giggled one.

One of the girls went to him, her towel barely covering her _huge_ assets.

"What's your name my boy? You seem familiar…" she said, cocking her head to the side.

"N-n-Na-Naruto… HAAAA! Nee-san! You were there last time I stumbled in the wrong bath!"

"Kyyaaaaa! He called me Nee-san!"

At that, she pulled him close, squashing him against her breast in a bear hug. He tried to find his way in the comfortable mass to breathe enough air to stay alive.

"Don't keep him to yourself! Bring him here!" told another one, making place on the seating rocks.

So, Naruto was dragged in the water to be surrounded by a small crowd of giggling and teasing girls in their early twenties. If they were that old.

"You're hair are so bright! And your eyes…"

"And look at those muscles! Are you at the Academy?"

"I'm a Genin of Konoha! And soon I'll become Hokage!"exclaimed Naruto proudly.

Saying that, he got on his feet in the shallow water, pumping a fist in the air. Even if he was clearly younger then them, the girls could not fail to notice the bulging muscle of his raised arm, the perfect abs on his chest and… another piece that seems perfect too as his towel fell down. They noticed how fast he could be too as he bent to pick it up before it reached the surface of the water. Now he looked like he had caught a very bad full body sunburn.

The girls were laughing hard even if their mind where now following perverted thoughts. They did their best to make him even more uncomfortable even if he was already very… tensed.

"Our hero! You're going to protect us, are you?" said his 'Nee-san', closing the little distance between them, pressing her breasts on his side.

"I'm sure you'll become the strongest, aren't you?" said another, following the example of the first.

Very soon, a very stiff Naruto was surrounded by feminine flesh and he was trying hard to keep his voice even as he stuttered his reply and to keep his hands close to him. Meaning that as he moved them, he 'accidentally' brushed a girl or another… sometime in very sensible parts that were not well protected underwater… Strangely, he could only tell he really did something by the light blush that most of them had by now.

The teasing… and brushing… session continued from both sides for at least an hour. Then the girls had to go.

"You can come in anytime you want while I'm in here, Naruto-kun!" one called back, pulling her towel higher in a false show of modesty, as it showed her legs higher than decency would suggest.

"Same for me!" called a younger one who almost repeated Naruto's previous feat while waving at him.

Naruto seemed embarrassed to acknowledge this.

"How… how will I know if it's you and not someone else who could take offence?" he asked, burning red.

"Who could take offence of a sweetie like you?" winked his 'nee-chan'. "If you want a code… then I'll just let my panties hang from my clothes basket in the girl's changing room!"

"Neeeeeee-chaaaaan!"

All the girls laugh at his outraged face.

"Yeah! Me too! So you'll have to check the girl's changing room before coming here! It should not be so hard for a great ninja like you!"

The girls bid him goodbye and Naruto laid against a rock. His demeanour changed completely. Far now was the shy boy. During a full ten seconds, he let himself relax in the hot water, thinking of the last hour and how much fun it had been. If he could only be two years older… But the 'cute boy' routine would not work anymore. Poor Sasuke didn't know what he missed. He was such a prude!

The blond sighed loudly before talking aloud.

"You can come out now. It's been a while that I've spotted you."

The invitation stayed unanswered a moment, until someone jumped over the fence that separate the baths from the outdoor. Naruto opened an eye to detail the peeker. Long, white spiky hair, ninja clothes and scrolls, passed his fifties but unknown age otherwise…

"Young man, you deceived those girls with you act! You shamelessly took advantage of your age!" said the man, pointing a finger at him.

"And?" shrugged Naruto.

"I'm impressed."

"Who are you?"

"How rude of me… I'm the traveller, the great writer, the ninja extraordinaire: Frog Senin Jiraiya!"

The older man took a ridiculous pose before launching in a loud laugh. Naruto would usually sweat drop, but not this time. Fate sent him the man he needed right now. The demon-carrier got up, making sure his towel was well in place, and bowed low in front of the confused Senin.

"Jiraiya-sama, the Frog Senin. One of the 'Three Legendary'. It's an honor."

"I'm glad I'm still known around! Even by such young ones as yourself!" spoke the peeker, clearly pleased.

"But what is it about the 'great writer' part?" asked Naruto, curious.

"Ha! That! I'm writing a series of… novels… that do sell well. The Icha Icha Paradise series. But you're too young to know about it."

Naruto cocked his head to the side.

"A little orange-covered book?" he stated more than asked.

Jiraiya looked like the child caught the hand in the cookie jar.

"How do you know?"

"My sensei is a fan. Jiraiya-sama, it's fate that sent you here. I need your help," Naruto said, very serious.

Jiraiya nodded knowingly, guessing what would follow.

"Listen, kid, you helped me a lot with my research back there, but I'm not giving away training, techniques or jutsus like a candy machine."

"It's not that. Look," Naruto said, putting his hand together in the most unthreatening manner he could. He molded some chakra and on his belly formed the five points of the seal that was plaguing him.

"This… This is the Demonic sealing technique, the five part sealer. Who did that to you?" Jiraiya said, getting on one knee to examine it from closer.

"You should know, he was in your team," Naruto said gravely.

"Orochimaru?"

"Yes. We ran into him in the Forest of Death. Ever so, my chakra control sucks."

"I bet it does. It's randomly messing with your coil… and if he used that particular sealing technique, you must be Uzumaki Naruto, the demon-carrier and son of the Yondaime."

"Hai. Is there anything you can do about this?"

Jiraiya closed his eyes. He took a pose, half-crouch, hands drawn behind his back to his right. His fingertips ignited one after the other in a blue fire.

"Five Part Unsealing Technique!" he called loudly without any other warning.

Jiraiya slammed his hand, like a hawk talon, right in his stomach. Naruto's eyes opened wide as he skidded backward. He didn't left the ground but his feet painfully dragged on the hot spring rock floor. He put a hand on the ground to finally halt his course, four meters behind where he was standing.

Naruto gasped for air once but found his breath easy to come. The pain from the hit was already fading. He stood up, put his hands together and molded some chakra. His belly stayed the same and the balanced feeling was back. He smiled. He went back in front of Jiraiya, put a fist on his opposite open palm and bowed once more.

"Thank you, Jiraiya-sama. You truly live up to your legend," complimented sincerely Naruto.

"I do now, do I?" said the hermit, starting to laugh again.

"Could you teach those techniques to me?"

That stopped the laughing right away.

"Why would you want to learn those?"

"That attack was very effective against me. I could not use any of my best moves. If I learn the sealer and the unsealer, I would be able to teach it to Sasuke so he could use it on me the next time Snake-face run into us."

"You plan to face him again?" Jiraiya asked gravely, lifting an eyebrow.

"Yes."

"Explain."

"He was seeking Uchiha Sasuke, my brother, in the Forest of Death. He seemed to have entered the Chuunin exam for that motive and for another unknown reasons. Something big. I don't know what he wants from Sasuke, but he promised him a lot of power if he joined him."

"I may have an idea about that but I'll have to check on my spies first."

"When do we begin?" asked Naruto, showing some eagerness.

"Do you have any clue of how hard that technique is?"

"Not at all. Nor do I care. Do you doubt your teaching abilities?" asked Naruto, the smallest smirk playing on his lips.

"HA! I was the teacher of the Fourth Hokage…"

"My father. Who died protecting this village. Yet, you hesitate to teach his son how to protect himself against one that was your teammate?"

Jiraiya looked at Naruto, a very serious look on his face.

"You drive a hard bargain. You really want to spend the month before the final of the Chuunin exam learning something else than a fighting technique?"

"I do. I've got to look further than that."

"Good answer. I'll teach you. You know what? In memory of your father, if you can learn the sealing and unsealing technique within a month, I'll teach you the bases of an awesome jutsu that your father created."

"I'm truly honored, sensei," Naruto said, bowing once more. "In exchange, I have other bath stories that you might find good material for your… research."

"I think I found my pupil," chuckled the hermit.

* * *

Naruto walked up the circular ramp to the Hokage office. He had told Jiraiya that he would start the training the next day, still having some pending issues. This one would be the most dangerous of all. He nodded passed the ANBU guards. If the old man had been occupied, they would have told him. He politely knocked on the door before pushing them open.

The old man was writing some calligraphy on a huge banner. He was really skilled at it. One would have to know that he was the one who taugh seals to Jiraiya.

"Naruto-kun! What a surprise! I though you would be training by now! Did Kakashi grew some compassion and gave you the day off?"

The Hokage laugh out loud at his own joke, putting his brush down.

"He sure didn't! Kakashi is training Sasuke for the next month," replied Naruto. "Sakura will train with Haku while I'll take lesson from one of your old student."

"Jiraiya?" asked Sarutobei, surprised.

"The Frog Hermit Himself! What about you?" asked Naruto lightly.

"What do you mean?" Sarutobei asked, sitting behind his desk.

"You know as I do that Orochimaru will try something in a month. Probably a huge scale attack. The Forest of Death accident was only a recon. How are you going to prepare? I'm sure he won't let you, the Strongest Ninja of Konoha, mess with his plans. He'll take care of you personally."

"Don't worry about this, Naruto. I'll deal with this myself," Sarutobei reasured the Genin.

"How? By diing?" Naruto said suddenly, almost agressive.

The Hokage froze solid at the words.

"I bet...", said Naruto, "...that if you'd fight him right now, you would lose. In last resort, you would use some kind of suicide attack to kill the both of you, like a coward, a weakling."

"How dare you…" the old man managed to mumbled, shocked.

"Admit that it would please you to shelter yourself in death from the pain of killing your favourite student. You must begin to fell your age now, don't you?" mocked Naruto cruelly.

"I should put you under arrest for those words," growled the Hokage, with a good hint of menace.

He was livid by now. But Naruto wasn't even close to being done.

"Yeah. Anyone else would have done it already, but you grew soft. Like you have been on your star student, the exile Sanin, Orochimaru. He must have been a good student, a marvellous ninja. I heard he was exiled for making experiment on living humans, willing or not. The strange thing is: nobody knows why he wasn't killed back then. Any ideas?"

"Naruto… you…"

The Hokage got up, shaking with anger. He knew of his past mistake. There was no need to slap them in his face like that.

"You're no match for him anymore. Since he left, before my birth, he made experiments on himself and trained to get stronger. What did you do since then? Paperwork? That's one problem with the system. The strongest ninja of the village should not be left to rust in administration."

"I still have enough strength to make you shut up, brat!" yelled Sarutobei.

The Hokage was about to get to him when Naruto put a Cheshire cat's grin on his face.

"Now, that's how it should be. I'll wait for you in training area fourteen, in two hours. It's remote enough not to draw attention, even in the case of a huge summon. Show me what you have left in you."

At that, Naruto rose from his chair and left a stunned Hokage behind. Damn! He has been tricked in a sparring match! Still, he would teach Naruto a lesson. He may look at him like his own grandson, Konohamaru, but he would learn to respect his elders.

* * *

Naruto was waiting for the Hokage with trepidation. He would fight the old man! Of course, he wasn't doing this pointlessly. Still… he would enjoy this! As he though that, he saw the old man approach. He was walking calmly, in full battle gear. Body armor, helmet, gloves… Naruto gulped. He was taking this very seriously. The first part would be truly painful.

"Are you realizing, by now, how crazy you've been to ask for a fight?" Sarutobei asked, having regained control over his emotions.

Before he started to ponder that statement, Naruto attacked. The sudden move would have taken the old man by surprise, had it been trice as fast. As it was, he simply dodged the incoming fist. Naruto was giving his all but to the old man's eyes, he was moving in slow motion. He caught a fist and made the boy spin on himself, the head toward the ground. The blond retaliated with a sundown kick, taking advantage of the force applied on him. The Hokage blocked with an armoured arm. He took the leg, flipped him over straight, turned him around and trapped him in a chokehold.

"It's so easy that's it's not even funny, Naruto. I'm sorry to have to teach you a lesson that way but…"

"What are you waiting for, dammit? NEW YEARS EVE?" Naruto yelled.

Sarutobei was taken aback by the outburst of his captive. He understood the next moment when he felt the heat of a 'Grand Fireball' coming from behind him. The time he returned his attention to Naruto, he had a log in his hands.

As the fireball closed on him, he made hand seals. The explosion even shook the ground a little. As the smoke cleared, the Fire Kage was standing, a hand against a wall of rock. He wasn't even panting. But he _was_ frowning.

"That's what you think of a loyal combat? A one-on-one?" he said out loud.

"You're going to fight Orochimaru and you're talking about a fair fight?" came the answer from the blond. "When did I mention it would be a one-on-one?"

Naruto was standing beside Sasuke, rubbing his neck. They each grabbed a steel wire on their shoulder and pulled hard. The wire was running along their body, keeping their weight bands on. As the rope was pulled, they fell to the floor. They smiled predatorily. Then they charged. Sasuke was throwing kicks and punches in the purest form of the Uchiha style. His sharingan was on. His three dot sharingan. Naruto was giving his all in his Uchiha/Hyuga hybrid fighting style. Even if it had the look of a trap, Sarutobei was proud of their progress. Those two could give a run for their money to any Jonin of Konoha. Still, it wasn't like they could beat him. Sarutobei had a fighting style mastered and passed on from Hokage to an other. That style was created by his grandfather and passed on to him by his father.

Both of his young adversary jumped back suddenly, giving way to a flurry of explosion notes wrapped on stones. They exploded, sending dust and smaller rocks everywhere. He protected his face with his arms, letting his armor taking the assault.

"I see you got Sakura on your side for this…"

And then the watery dragon he never saw coming rammed in his back. Sarutobei flew high, disoriented and landed rolling on the ground. In a hasty move, he got back up. His mind sharpened. Who sent that? It wasn't from the direction the Brothers went. He finally saw the culprit.

"Kakashi-kun? You too? How did he get you to do this?"

"You may be our leader, Hokage-sama, but that doesn't mean you can't learn anymore. Naruto was right. You were careless," stated Kakashi, his tone emotionless.

Kakashi had his sharingan eye uncovered too. He started to make new seals. Sarutobei saw Naruto and Sasuke get ready for another round while Sakura was nowhere to be seen. He was in a tighter spot then he had previously though.

The Hokage made seals of his own.

"Summoning technique no Jutsu!"

The smoke cleared on a tall ape, Enma.

"You called, Hokage-sama?" asked the summon respectfully.

"Yes, old friend. I need you as my ultimate weapon. I'm still unsure if I've been betrayed."

"Hai."

The talking ape transformed at once in a big black staff. Sarutobei twirled it around just in time to deflect a new rain of explosive rocks and another liquid dragon. It was time to get to the offensive and show those child why he was the Hokage.

Sarutobei met the Genin duo in mid-air, breaking their attack formation. He blocked Naruto's glowing fist with his staff. A crunching noise was heard and Naruto let out a howl, hugging one hand with the other. Sasuke got the other end of the staff in a forward trust, right in the chest, stopping his advance and sending him tumbling down.

"Secret art, Flying Needles," was heard from the masked jonin.

As he heard this, the old man spun around in time to be pierced by a flight of ice needle. A log looking like fine Swiss cheese fell to the ground at his place.

Sakura, hiding out of range of attack, was trying to find their recently disappeared enemy. Kakashi's last attack, copied from Haku, sent him in hiding. The old man was smart. What would they not expect at this time? The answer hit her hard. To eliminate someone who's not a direct threat!

Sakura turned around in a flash, her back to the giant boulder she was hidden behind, a kunai raised in both hands. She barely blocked the giant black rod that was about to knock her out. She smiled. She did it! She blocked the Hokage's attack! She knew she had a split second to react, and she did as planned. She pulled on the blanket with pattern of a rock behind her… to reveal another big rock. The thing was, this one was _covered_ with explosives notes all around it! With a maniacal smile, she let got of her kunaïs, putting both hands behind her, on the rock, her stare never leaving the face of the Hokage.

* * *

Sarutobei was chilled. Such an explosion would leave a deep crater! There was no way she could escape the blow, even if she hide underground! But it was too late. She already buried herself with a technique. He didn't have the time to save her from harm. He simply hoped she would not be too hurt so they could take her to a medic nin in time. He jumped back high and fast, putting as much distance between himself and the now glowing rock. The energy was about to be released any seconds now.

Sakura hoped it would work. As she got underground, a slight crack in the earth showed her the Hokage jump back. She smiled. It was all as planned.

"Activate: group one."

A group of explosive tag exploded beneath the rock. They were stack four notes tick, covering the totality of the bottom of the boulder. The boulder didn't blow up. It was blown _up_! The Hokage's eyes widen up as the booby trap became a projectile, sent his way. As he predicted, the energy reached it's critical and detonate the hundred or so explosive notes on it, transforming the rock in a two tons fragmentation grenade. The explosion rocked the sky, stone and gravel going everywhere at the speed of bullets, making craters on the ground below.

As the smoke cleared, Sarutobei opened his eyes, his armor damaged, but not that much. Not as it should be. He saw, in front of him, Enma who had transformed back in his ape form to act as a living shield.

"Enma, what did you do?"

"Give them hell Sarutobei. Give them hell… as you used to," whispered the summon, before leaving this plane of existance.

Sarutobei landed on one knee, smoking. He had lost his helmet and other minor pieces of armor. He knew that Enma, back in his plane, would totally heal, but he was still pissed.

Naruto and Sasuke were coming his way, taijutsu ready. A mist began to appear everywhere. That was it. The Hokage grabbed the two youngster by the neck with awesome speed and slammed them on the ground. With them at his feet, he made handseals.

"Forbidden art: Raging Gale."

A tornado force three appeared with him as its center. Naruto and Sasuke's bodies were thrown away, screaming. The tornado got wider, searching for Kakashi. As it didn't found him in a thirty meter radius, and that he began to fell the lack of air pressure at the center of the tornado, the Hokage slammed his hand in the ground, forcing the gale to take that direction. Dust, earth, Kakashi, roots, Sakura and plants that were still holding on were levelled from the area's floor.

Two twin Fireball go to him a second to late to lit him into a fire twister. As they cleared, a scorched marked stone stood at Sarutobei's place. A Kawamiri with a stone was harder, since it's heavier, but the place looked like a war zone. Finding a log on the spot wasn't that easy.

He appeared on front of them but they were a lot more now. Kakashi wanted Naruto and Sasuke to last more than half a second against their opponent so they made some clones.

Sarutobei was really angry at this point. He would show those impertinent kids. He would rip that smirk from that Uchiha. He would erase that sadistic happy smile from Uzumaki's face. As he moved through the tight ranks of clones, dispelling them, he though back at this. Smirk? Grin? What were they happy about? They were getting pummelled!

"Come on, old man! You can kick harder than that!" called the blond.

Sarutobei looked at Naruto. Sasuke jumped back from the fray, standing aside of Kakashi and Sakura, who now stood watching to the side, panting. They seemed to let Naruto take care of the rest of the fight. Or simply take the rest of the beating.

The blond Genin chained taijutsu with fire and earth techniques to prevent Sarutobei from attacking him or to evade a previous attack. His efforts were really good but he was nowhere near from landing a hit. Even after the Fire Kage backhanded him, after freezing his foot to the ground, then hitting him point blank range with projectiles that look like the air-blast of Gamabunta, the frog boss, Naruto was smiling. He fell down as the attacks stopped. He was panting hard and pain was evident on his face. He was bleeding from unnumerous wounds but he was still smiling. What made him so happy? He wasn't even up on both legs when he taunted him again.

"So? Ready to take off the kid gloves yet? You had a nice fighting spirit back there! You almost had it. You're simply not enjoying this as I do!"

"Enjoying this? You like what I just did to you? You have a death wish or what?" asked Sarutobei, beginning to feel regrets.

"He. Don't we do all? We're ninja. Guess what will end our career? Do you know many ninjas actually retire? We decided to be ninja. To fight. Because we like it. We all do, at some level. It's what we do best. Where is your thirst for a fight with a stronger enemy? The joy of landing a combo attack like you just did on me? The constant need to train and become stronger? Those past years, you stamped papers. You're the freakin' stronger of the village! Let that be handle by bureaucrats! Hire a secretary dammit! As you are right now, you'll die fighting Orochimaru. The worst part of this is that you won't even _enjoy_ the fight!"

Naruto had his hands on his knee, but the Hokage was so shocked he had the time to catch his breath to continue.

"You trained him! He betrayed you and made his own village! He trained and made experiment on himself and others for years! He came back for a revenge match: aren't you thrilled? He is still looking up to you as the greater to be killed! Don't disappoint him. Don't disappoint yourself! Prepare yourself and enjoy the fight! Fight to win! Fight to live! Fight him to death! That is the mentality of a ninja! Remember!"

The old man felt like he was emerging from a deep slumber beneath the water. He looked at the sun. It seems to be so much brighter, like all the colors around him. He felt parts of him come back, parts he had to suppress to become 'The Professor'. To mold himself as the best Hokage he could be. The _hell_ if he would touch paperwork ever again! He looked at his wrinkled hands.

"So much time lost…"

"As if it was too late," grinned Naruto. "What you will do as of now is what you should consider."

"Indeed. What to do now?" pondered Sarutobei, looking up again.

"Missions," uttered Naruto.

"Missions?"

"Go on missions. S-Rank. Kick some major asses. Train. Get creative. You have a month."

"That's… a rich idea! I'll just leave the missions dispatching to a Chuunin team. Boy, as it been a long time!" the Hokage said, rubbing his hands together.

He was standing straight. His smile was broad. He looked like a hundred million yen.

"What am I doing in this get-up…" he wondered, looking down at himself.

As he said that, he pulled on some broken pieces of armor. He took it all off, leaving him in a black jumpsuit.

"It's time to get equipped for the road! Thank you so much Naruto," he said sincerely.

At that, he slapped him on the shoulder. Hard. Where he knew he must have a lot of bruises.

"AAAaaaarrrrggg! Bastard! I'll get you for this!"

"You're a few decades of training to soon for that, brat! You'll have to eat a lot more ramen before you rise to half my level!" bragged the old man.

"Just you wait!" growled Naruto, grinning and gritting his teeth.

Team Seven and the Hokage left the clearing and took the direction of Konoha. Mainly, the hospital. Naruto and Sasuke were the two of the lot with the most injuries since they used close range attack. Naruto was already healing up from his demonic chakra. Sasuke was annoyed to have to be the one to bear the price for Naruto's 'Great Idea' to punch some senses in the Hokage's head. Sakura and Kakashi were scratched and bruised, like the Hokage, from the gale who ripped them off the ground. The Hokage received some rocks from the close explosion but nothing serious. It was funny, when you though about it, that Sakura's attack did the most damage to him.

Once they reached the hospital, Naruto was already healed up. He waved at them, saying he decided he would not make Jiraiya wait any longer and start with his training. The rest of them preferred to be checked out by a professional medic nin before engaging any training.

* * *

"So… where do we begin, sensei?" Naruto asked, having found out his teacher rather easily.

"You'll have a lot of studying to do before actually trying anything. Those seals mess with the coil and any mistake could cost you your ninja career… or worse. Tell me what you know about seals," finally asked the Sanin, crossing his arms.

"Well… It's better to categorize it. Believe it or not, I know a bunch. Sasuke and I have a good library of jutsus at the Uchiha mansion. We took some time studying the inner working of the seals. Their sequences a jutsu, to determine the sense behind their order, the elements they corresponded the most, their power and effects…"

Jiraiya looked at him, blinking. Then he looked at the pile of scrolls he had on the ground beside him. He rummage through them and got four out.

"This one is for a review of what you seems to know. This one is for you to study right after. The two others are the sealing and unsealing jutsu. Before you try anything, I'll have to be there, ready to act if something goes wrong. You don't have a choice but to perform it on yourself. Even that is borderline with the ethic of Konoha on experimental jutsus. Your coil being stronger thanks to the Kyubi, you have more of a chance to be okay in case of mistakes. Come back when you'll be able to tell me exactly what's on these scrolls and what it means in your own words."

"Hai, sensei."

* * *

Sakura had left her weight at home. She was standing knee-deep in a river, with a solid bathing suit on. She needed all of her mobility, and could not afford to worry about torn clothes. She was panting and rubbing her cheek. The last hit from Haku was more like a slap and stung like a hive of bees! Haku was in his swimming suit too. She didn't have the time to marvel on his slender, feminine-like body. When it comes to training, he's a real slave-driver.

"Come to me faster! That wasn't even enough to make me blink!" he said severely.

"I'm used to train with weights to increase my speed! What kind of work is this?" she asked, puzzled.

"Of course you're used to train with weights: your muscle mass is inadequate to be relied on purely in taijutsu matches. The thing is: your brain isn't able to follow the real speed you are now able of! Charge me past what you can see! Stumble if you have too! You have to go faster than what you can handle, than what is your safe limits. Your brain will get use to it and unlock the full capacity of your muscles. That's the only way for you to get noticeably faster in a single month time."

"Naruto and Sasuke would have…"

"DONE SOMETHING ELSE!" yelled Haku, not letting her place a word. "Something than would probably work for them too! But you're not Sasuke-san nor Naruto-sama… san. You are your own person. Get your own skills. Take suggestions but let nobody else mold you. Be yourself, with passion. That's what he taught me. You should realize it by now. Now, if you have enough breath to talk, that's because you're not trying hard enough. Now COME!"

Sakura had nothing worthy to add to this. She did what she came there for. She charged him.

* * *

"Come on now, Sasuke. You can be faster than that! You were much better, a few weeks ago, against Zabuza!"

" I just added more weight to my bands: give me a chance!" Sasuke said, exasperated.

"What? My, my. That won't do. Get them off. You can't even go at your true full speed."

Sasuke dropped his stance.

"True speed training? That's what you were aiming for?"

The last true Uchiha pulled on the wire that was keeping his weight on him. Why Kakashi didn't say so earlier? He breathed slowly and all his muscle relaxed. Kakashi had a bad feeling about this. Bad, in a good way. He lifted his protector from his left eye right on time. He would not have been able to block the attack otherwise.

Sasuke's speed was phenomenal! If not for his own speed and Dojutsu, Kakashi would have been hit three time before his lone eye registered that Sasuke left his spot. With the Sharingan activated, he could dodge or parry all of his attack with ease if he kept concentrated. He often took advantage of the lack of balance from his student. The boy truly went at it! He was pushing himself passed the limit his perception allowed him to see! It helped a lot to develop the sharingan by fine-tuning some kind of pre-perception of where you're going to be in an instant too. 'True speed training', like his student liked to call it, is mostly straightforward charges.

While containing Sasuke's punches, kicks and weapons throwing at good distances from real threat, he remembered his own training, years ago, to get that kind of speed. He had to admit that Sasuke was further trained than he had been at his age. Of course, Kakashi didn't had the Sharingan back then! As he observed his student closely, his mind took notice of something. Sasuke's eyes were black. Deep black. His sharingan wasn't activated.

Kakashi's blood chilled. If Sasuke activates it… For a moment, he was jealous. The next, he was proud. After that, he was shameful. He was a genius too! How come Sasuke progressed so much faster than him? Then it hit him. The realisation, not Sasuke. Kakashi looked at Sasuke, who, in training, always lost his emotional mask. He had a strained look of anger and determination.

He gave his all. Always. How much time had it been since he trained like that? When did he judged he was strong enough? Or that he would simply get stronger with time and experience?

Kakashi put his protector over his own sharingan eye. He received two hit in succession. Sasuke stopped, surprised. Kakashi recovered fast, getting more ready than he was a moment ago.

"What are you waiting for, Sasuke-kun? Aren't you motivated to continue? You managed to hit me! It's far from over!"

At that, it was Kakashi's turn to breath deeply, relax, and disappear from Sasuke's eye. To see his sensei train with him on an even ground instead of always putting himself over him filled Sasuke with an emotion he was rarely in contact with, usually with Naruto.

The battle raged onward.

* * *

Naruto was yawning. He had read the scrolls again and again. Even the most basics ones just to be sure not to miss anything. He felt his ninjutsu efficiency just went up a notch. He understood so much more now! Seals really are something more than he had though. He was a slower reader and learner than Sasuke so he had to read them over and over again, even with all the learning tricks he found with the years. Talking while reading or simply copying it on another scroll are some of them.

He spent the last two weeks on that task. Now, he needed to find his sensei. The guy was strong and smart, but he was a pervert. Naruto was one too, but one way less pathetic in his own mind.

So he went to the baths, knowing he would probably find him peeking between the planks of a fence. To his great surprise, he was not. Naruto strolled in the surrounding areas calmly, hands in his pockets. The whole place was hot and inviting to soak in the water… But duty called.

He finally found him, three hours later, behind rocks, spying on a group of pretty young girls in bikini.

'At least he's logic with himself: he really study different setting and scenarios…' Naruto though, shaking his head.

The genin sat, his back to the giant rock, beside the giggling and almost drooling man. He waited a while, giving a chance to the guy to gather his wits. It seems it was spread quite far since he didn't turn toward his student even after twenty minutes of patient waiting.

"Jiraiya-sama?"

"Hehehe… Oooooh!"

"Jiraiya-san?"

"Houhouhouhou…"

"Jiraiya?"

"Huuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmm hihihi!"

"JI-JII!"

"SSHHHHhhhhhh! You'll betray our position! Don't you know basic stealth?"

"Be more aware of your surrounding then, old man."

"What happened to 'Jiraiya-sama?'" asked the old pervert, missing the earlier respect he had.

"He's lagging, three calls behind. I'm done with the scrolls. I'm well rest. It's time to practice."

"I'm into something important here… come back tomorrow."

"I haven't bothered you for the last two weeks…"

"Exactly! But I'm the teacher! So I'll teach you when I see fit!"

Naruto frowned. Jiraiya was his teacher and he had his respect for that. It didn't mean that the teacher had no similar obligation toward a willing student. It was time to teach the teacher a lesson. He cleared his throat before jumping on the top of the rock he was hiding behind with the Hermit.

"PERVERT! There is a pervert peeking on you Nee-san!"

Jiraiya was caught totally off guard.

"You little…"

"EEEEEKK! A stalker!"

The girls began to throw objects at the Sanin, who had the brilliant idea to raise his head. He managed to deflect the small stones, shampoo bottles, and clothes basket that came his way, but he was not at the end of his humiliation.

Naruto used the distraction to jump in front of the girls, his back to them. He took a kunai made specially for that kind of situation. It was a blunt, hard wood kunai. He threw it in the Sanin direction and made quick hand seals.

"Kage Kunai Bushin no jutsu!"

The weapon multiplied itself at an incredible pace. The target kept running, not being in any position to retaliate. Naruto had the girls on his side! He made awckward jumps, avoiding the projectiles that were following his course.

"You're gonna pay for this Naruto…" Jiraira spoke to himself.

On his side, Naruto was smiling broadly as he let go of the seal. Now, he only had to get back at the Sanin's hotel room to chew him out about the responsibility he had toward a student who could very well screw every single of his peeking session.

"That'll teach him…" he mumbled.

"Naruto-kuuuuuuunn! You kept your promise! You protected us against that old pervert!" squealed one of the girl behind him.

Naruto suddenly felt two huge and soft bumps in his back as two arms circles him from behind. The same thing happened to both his arms. He was in a field of breast!

"No fun! I want to 'thank' him too!" whinned another one.

"So do I!"

"Easy girls! Naruto isn't going anywhere as long as he hasn't received ALLLLLL of our 'thanks'…" spoke the voice he knew belongued to his 'nee-chan'.

'Well… I guess I can take a little break from training…' Naruto though, smilling dumbly.

He fell back in his persona of the 'cute timid little brother' as the girls discarded almost all of his clothes… so he can join the swimming, of course.

* * *

Naruto got back to his house, a wide grin on his face. Sasuke had gone in the mountains to train with Kakashi and Haku would probably tire Sakura so much they would sleep on the training ground. That's why he was surprise to feel someone with trained chakra nearby. As he turned the corner to his home, he saw his sensei, waiting for him.

"So… You had fun with the girls?"

"Yeeeeaaaaahhhh. That was really fun… and relaxing…Those girls really knows how to make a guy feel welcome. You know, when they…"

"Enough!"

Jiraiya looked pissed, disgusted and jealous. It looks like he doesn't get that much attention from girls.

"How could I teach you after such a treachery?" he asked seriously.

"Well… I could tell them that you were, in fact, standing back to them, guarding their innocent play from real perverts or enemy ninja. If I tell them on top of that that you're the great Jiraiya-sama and that you promised to train me, seeing my potential…"

Jiraiya seemed to be in a great turmoil.

"I consider myself to be a good manipulator… but you…"

"Shall we resume my training then?"

"Show me what you've learn."

* * *

**The teachers getting a lesson. That would have been the title of this chapter if it ever deserve one.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other characters. If I marry Masashi Kishimoto's daughter, do you think he'll hand it down to me when he'll die? Accidentally?**

* * *

The stadium of Konoha were filling up slowly. People got in early, hoping to secure good seats. Naruto was lounging around, a hand in his baggy white shorts, his other fiddling with a kunai. He was quite nervous. Today would be _the_ day. He would be judged as a ninja, like Sasuke and the other Konoha's rookies, and would have to deal with another demon-carrier. He was alert for any activities from the Sand ninjas, the Sound's ones or Orochimaru. They would not attack at any other date now, would they? But when? At the start? In the middle of the fighting? After it was all done, when the tension would have eased?

He saw Sasuke walking down the road, in the very same manner that himself was pacing in front of the Stadium doors: a hand in his shorts pocket, the other playing with a knife. Kakashi was yawning wide behind him. As they got to each other's level, the Uchiha Brothers hit their closed right fist as a greeting. It has been a month. They never had been apart that long before.

"I would have come earlier but the blockhead behind was having too much fun yesterday and made us train late."

"Are you in a good enough shape to fight?" frowned Naruto.

"I had enough sleep. It's him who was reading his 'Icha Icha Paradise' two whole hours before getting to sleep."

Kakashi looked at him, surprised.

"How did you know?"

"You giggle."

Naruto sweat drop but noticed the familiarity. Look like Sasuke made a new friend out of their sensei.

"Guys! You're early! And Kakashi too! That's nothing short of a miracle!" Sakura said, running to greet them.

"I had to drag him out of bed for this. Literally. With a rope," said Sasuke.

"You went to bed with him? With ropes?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

"WHAT? NO!" Sasuke said in a scandalized outburst.

Sakura grinned wide while Naruto was howling with laughters. Who knew Sakura had it in her? Sasuke was throughoutfully embarrassed. Naruto managed to get his fit under control and got back to business.

"You guys are prepared?" he asked, serious once more.

They all nodded. Kakashi, for once, wasn't trying to ease the mood. He took charge, his student listening to the more experienced man.

"Fight with moderation in your matches, but try to act as if you give your all. It's gonna make the enemy underestimate you when the real fighting break out. We'll need your strength. Maybe you are Genins but at this point, it doesn't matter at all. The enemy doesn't care if you have the level to manage this kind of situations. In fact, they hope that you don't. You'll be, with the other contestant, the units with the most mobility, close to where most of the fighting will take part."

Kakashi's team nodded, understanding. It was more then their future and career that were in stake. The safety and survival of the whole village was in the balance. They entered the building by the wide gate and Sasuke motioned to Naruto to stay close to him. He needed a word in private.

"Aniki… do you really plan on holding back? Even at the price of becoming Chuunin?"

"Hai. We've got to protect the village. I won't make my own personal quest for power put innocent in danger. I would be no better than Itachi."

Sasuke smiled.

"Yeah. I guess you're right. It's going to be hard."

"I know what you mean. On top of this, you fight Gaara on the first round."

Sasuke sighed and combed his hair with a hand.

"How do you think he'll take that?"

"Very bad. He waited a whole month, not making any ruckus, only to be put off longer. I'll try to reason him but it won't be an easy task," grimaced Naruto.

"On top of that, he's in the middle of the whole mess with Orochimaru," added Sasuke darkly.

"So we guess," Naruto said, noncommittaly.

"So we guess. And you know I'm probably right, Naruto," Sasuke pushed, refusing to let Naruto blind himself.

"Yeah… I know. So, what's the order for the fights?"

"I was supposed to fight first with Gaara but the Hokage put it in last with the excuse of 'keeping the cream on top of the cake.'"

"Right. More like he want to give a fighting chance to the rest of the Genins. So?"

"I think it's you against Neji. Then, Kankuro against Shino. Ten-Ten will fight Shikamaru and Sakura will face Choji. Then it's my turn."

"Damn. Sakura will face another weakling, no offence to Choji."

"I don't think he's any more enthusiast to fight her, but for other reasons."

"Huh?"

"He's afraid of Sakura now. I heard that Ino pushed him in training this last month, threatening him to find a way to alter his senses so that next time he would eat barbecue, it would taste like crap, literally."

"Men. That must have kept him going."

By then, Naruto and Sasuke, always walking, entered the dirt stage of the coliseum. They were the first, with Sakura ahead of them, to enter. Kankuro followed suite, Ten-Ten behind them at good distance. Shino walked in, followed closely by Choji. He looked resolute, but still a nervous wreck. A few minutes later, Hayate walked in, Shikamaru following close behind. A gust of wind rose and Gaara stood amongst them as the sand came down.

"Show off." mumbled Naruto, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Gaara turned toward him, surprised anyone would have the guts to purposefully piss him off. He saw Naruto smiling deviously at him. He was actually teasing him! Gaara turned back to look at a far wall. Was that how friends… playfully teased one another? He felt clearly stung by the words in his pride but he was enjoying them on another level. He never learned to suppress feelings, never ignoring his murderous thoughts. So he didn't try to ignore that one either. But it was quite confusing.

Everybody had taken place on the stage. The Hokage was seated with the Kazekage, both in long ceremony robes. From the stands reserved for the friends and family of the competitors, loud cheers and warnings could be heard.

"Don't you dare lose Choji! Your stomach depends on it! If you forfeit, Shika, I'm gonna eat your heart on a plate!"

Yup, Ino was the loudest of them all. Naruto looked in the front seat and saw Hinata, looking at him. He read on her lips more then he heard her words of encouragement.

"Annooo… good luck! Put him through hell Naruto-kun! But not too much! Ano… Just hard enough…. Not that I want Neji to lose either…."

Naruto smiled and shook his head. She would not change from one single match, and he liked her like that.

"You better win Naruto! I'd be lame to date a looser!" said Ten-Ten loudly from their own rank.

Naruto closed his eyes and put his hand on his heart, as if struck. Laughters rose from everywhere in the arena.

"You like the attention, don't you Aniki?" Sasuke said, raising an eyebrow.

"It feels good to be part of the village, doesn't it?" answered Naruto with his own question.

From the stands, to compensate the cheering Naruto received, the Sasuke Fangirls Club started to shoot his name over and over. Sasuke turned toward them and offered a smile, free of malice. The girls shrieked and one was on the verge of fainting. It was the first time he sent any attention their way! The cheers began anew, stronger.

Sasuke shook his head like Naruto did earlier, laughing quietly.

"I would not trade this life for any other. Exept maybe one where…"

"Don't torture yourself with though like that. He did it. We swore to kill him," stated Naruto firmly.

"Yeah. You're right. On both account. We already have a good life."

* * *

As Hayate made a short welcome speech for the event, Sarutobei turned toward his guest to start polite small talk.

"We have a very good selection this year. Many Genins of the Leaf got out of the lot, all from this years rookies. Amongst them are the famous 'Uchiha Brothers' and their new teammate, Haruno Sakura. They manage an 'A-Rank' mission, like Gaara's team. We should have very good matches."

"I am, indeed, curious to see the match opposing Gaara with the Uchiha survivor. The others are of little matter. Too weak to do anything else than weed gardens."

"Ohoh! We'll see about that! The first match will oppose Uzumaki Naruto against Hyuga Neji. Those two are half-brothers and the Hyuga is a prodigy of his clan, from the last years Genin draft. It could be more than just a little interesting."

"Hum. We'll see about that, Hokage-sama."

* * *

The fight was already about to start. Bets were made in the Chuunin and Jonin rank, swaying from the oldest rookie to the demon-carrier. Naruto was facing Neji alone in the arena, Hayate being part of the décor like any rock or tree would.

"Ready? Hajime!"

"I saw your level last month, Naruto-kun! You won't surprise me like you did to Kiba. We fought for so long I know exactly what you are capable of. In the last year, I held back against you, feeling that this kind of situation would happen. I'm glad I was not mistaken."

"I'm no stronger than I was in taijutsu last month, Neji. I'm not any faster, nor did I train special moves against you. I learned a total of three new techniques. Two complicated jutsus that aren't really combat oriented and one powerful finishing move. If you make me use that one, then you should be satisfied, even if it means the end of the fight for you. If I use it, it means that you will have caught up to me in a month's time, which would be really impressing. Aniki and I decided it was time we show what we really are able of. "

"Trying to make me give up?" grinned Neji.

"Yep."

"Won't work."

"I know. It's for my conscience. I warned you."

"You'd better be able to back your words. BYAKUGAN!"

His eyes took the familiar form of his doujutsu. Naruto put his hands together, forming the dispel seal. Chakra swelled up all around him right before he shouts.

"KAI!"

The dispel technique was suppose to work only against illusions. The advance part of that move is done by emitting a lot of chakra all around you, from everywhere on your body. As it was, the chakra overload Naruto managed blinded Neji's Byakugan for a single second. It was more than enough. Neji received Naruto's knee right in the guts. The charge was so fast! Neji's counter to that was to hit Naruto's leg with both palms, on both side, hard. It should be more than enough to stop him from using it. As it was, he only managed to dispel the clone.

The attacker was so close that he didn't realize it before. Neji fell from the lack of balance it caused him. He got up fast, scanning for Naruto. He found him after half a turn and didn't lose anytime to charge him. His hands were ready to make him taste some chakra-induced hits.

And attack he did. A flurry of strikes went Naruto's way, all of them targeting a tenketsu. On any other weak willed opponent, the furious charge would have made his adversary back down. Naruto was no ordinary opponent. He seemed to be holding his ground fairly easily. He wasn't backing down or standing to the side to offer less of a target. No hit seems to find him. The fists of Neji were moving with grace like a stoic dance perfectly executed, only to move air or to be deflect by Naruto's calm hands a quarter second before they hit. At the speed the attacks were, it's as well to say that he stopped them as they started.

Naruto was used to the Gentle fist. He practiced with Neji for years and used it in the development of his own fighting style. But he sparred with Sasuke so much more. What are the chances to catch off guard someone who fight a guy with a dojutsu able to predict your every moves on a daily basis? He had to, like a chess player, plan his attacks many moves ahead. The better Sasuke's sharingan got, the further he had to think. To trap Neji in his taijutsu was, compared to that, child's play.

Neji directed a punch toward Naruto's chin. It almost connected! While he seemed unbalanced, the Hyuga pressed his other attack, a strike toward the throat. Then he realized his mistake. Naruto wasn't unbalanced. He feigned to stumble to bait him in attacking while his other hand wasn't drawn back. Naruto caught the retreating right hand and pulled on hit, making the left one missing its target. That was only the beginning.

Naruto's right fist caught him in the guts, hard. So hard that Neji bent in two once again. The blond didn't leave his fist there long. Still gripping the Hyuga's left hand, he burrowed another short uppercut in his stomach. Naruto draw back his fist again, and again, hit after hit, giving his enemy's guts and ribs a punishment like they never got before. Neji desperately threw his head up in front of him, a mimic of Hinata's last move in her match against him. Naruto let go of him and took his distances. Without missing a beat, he took a little ball from his pocket and threw it in the air. Neji was too absorbed on his pain to see this new threat or to see Naruto put on his sunglasses.

The flash of the bomb hit Neji's sight fully. The next moment, a familiar feeling hit him. It was Naruto's fist in his guts. That time, Neji didn't wait for the next one to come. He took a hasty Kaiten pose and started spinning. The Hyuga was now inside his own chakra shield. The protective dome was supposed to be taught only to the Main Branch members, but it looked like Neji made an exception of himself. Naruto flew away but landed on his feet. Neji, already unbalanced, had to stop fast. His spin had levelled the stone beneath him in a light slope, proof the Kaiten had been missed.

Neji had to get back on the offensive, to get the initiative back from Naruto. Trying to move, he found he could not budge from his spot. His legs were shaking hard and refused to send him forward as he ordered them to. He wasn't even sure if he could walk at this point. To be standing straight was a miracle by itself! Naruto walked up to him and stopped just out of reach, his arms crossed.

"You said you would show me what you could really do, Naruto!" yelled Neji, clearly frustrated. "Yet, I saw you use cheap tricks without the hint of a technique! What is all this? Do you think so little of me?"

"Being a ninja isn't a simple show of power. Or techniques. You depend so much on your eyes that it became a weakness. Stripped of them, you don't know how to react. Do you give up?"

Neji took a proper Kaiten stance. Naruto sighed. He could not blame him. He was still standing. Against a stronger enemy, he would do the very same, hoping to reverse the situation with his best move. It's basic survival… and pride.

"Until you prove to me that you can beat my best attack and defence move, I won't admit my defeat. I can't move from here, but you won't reach me to put me down."

Neji activated his spinning once more, not showing even a hint he've been wounded to immobility moments before. Naruto shook his head, eyes closed. He took his time to make hand seals.

"Doton: Stone pillar no Jutsu!"

The earth beneath Neji started to shake as Naruto slammed his hand on the ground. A perfect circle cut itself in the stone, surrounding Neji's Kaiten a second before a pillar of rock rose fifteen feet in the air, with Neji at his top. Naruto let go of the jutsu, stopping its ascent. Then he made more seals, faster this time not to let the time to Neji to react.

"Suiton: Muddy Swamp of Putrefaction."

The blond touched the stone pillar he just created with both palms. He jumped back right as the stone became a fifteen foot high pillar of greyish green mud. The whole mess went down, followed by a still spinning ninja. Mud was sent everywhere as he hit the ground in a full spin. He disappeared a moment in the spongy mass before reappearing, shaking from the shock of the fall and the momentary lack of air.

He coughed up a little and looked up. Naruto was looking down on him. How could he? He though they were friends! They were close cousins! They still _are_ half-brothers! At least to his eyes… But he had to open them. It's one thing his Byakugan could not allow him to see. It doesn't have anything to do with this. This is no family competition. Against anybody else, it would have been a matter of life and death. No matter his hope or illusion, Naruto saw him, at best, as a close acquaintance. It was all clear now. Naruto had only one brother. Sasuke. He felt like he just lost more than just a match there.

"I give up Naruto. I won't bother you again."

"How's your mom Neji?" asked Naruto quietly.

The Hyuga, startled, looked at him with wide eyes.

"What does it have to do with anything?"

"I can read most people very well. I saw the deception in your eyes. What else of a relation can you expect of someone if the only interests you share are skin-deep? What do I like exept ramen and training? Can you answer that simple question?"

To his utmost horror, Neji could not. He was expecting their link to be… simply there… it would have been natural after all... they were half-brothers! But he really took that for granted now, did he?

"If you want me to call you 'brother', you'll have to act like it, and to be sincere about it. I already have an uncle who wants me in the clan for convenience."

"It's…. It's not like that!"

"Sorry to interrupt your personal quarrel, but would you, please, leave the arena so we can go on with the matches?" asked Hayate, looking annoyed as he always seem to be.

Naruto wondered if he was parent with Shikamaru. What had to be said was said anyway. The battle, so obviously won by Naruto, gave place to the next.

"Harubame Shino versus Kankuro of the Sand! Come on down!"

Shino looked at his adversary, at the other end of the arena, who grimaced. As the bug user took a step forward, the Sand nin startled everyone.

"I give up."

Shino frowned, clearly irritated. How could he become a Chuunin if he could not fight? That mean he would have to face a tougher opponent on the second round.

"Nara Shikamaru versus Ten-Ten of the Leaf," called Hayate, never one to be taken by surprise.

Shikamaru was halfway in the process of raising his hand to announce his defeat when he felt a creepy glare directed at the back of his head. He used his hand to scratch behind his head, to hide his previous move and mumbled 'troublesome' a few times. Shikamaru woke up slowly and took the direction of the stairs, hands in his pockets, his back bent like an old men. He didn't hope his adversary would give up, like for Shino, since she had jumped from her seat directly in the arena. He met Naruto on his way. The blond got two stones out of nowhere and made spark over Shikamaru's head as he passed him.

"Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!"

"Very funny," grimaced Shikamaru, not appreciating the good luck sending off of a geisha.

The blond was laughing all the way back to his seat. He high fived Sasuke and Sakura as he passed them and took a seat, lifting a foot on the back of the empty one in front of him.

"You're lucky," scoffed Sasuke. "You didn't have to put much in this fight. You're still fresh. It even acted as a warm up."

"Yeah. But I have the time to cool down before anything exciting happen again."

"How so?" asked Sakura.

"It's Shikamaru's turn to fight."

"So?"

"Well… he's not the kind to hurry in anything."

Hayate looked at them both before stating the start of the fight with a traditional: "Hajime!"

Ten-Ten wanted to show some more moves to Naruto. She didn't know why she looked at him so much like a teacher, but she would have no problem looking at him with a different point of view after the exam! She was looking forward to that date...She would have to take down the Nara first. She knew that he was lazy, intelligent and a shadow user.

"Yo! Why don't you just give up? It would be way easier!" she asked, trying to get him to quit early.

-Sigh- "I know! I'd like to but my teammate may have another opinion. She'd make my life a living hell."

"Humpf! House-broken male."

"I prefer to think of it as Voluntary Peace Keeper," smirked Shikamaru.

Ten-Ten got a scroll out, shaking her head. This weapon would be her best chance against the Nara. As the smoke cleared, an insane amount of light chains fell on the ground. It was piled in circles at her side and rose to her height! She took the end of it on the top of the pile: a barbed kunai. Without anymore chit-chat, she started running toward him, the kunai in hand, the chain trailing behind her. Shikamaru called his family technique and threw his shadow forward. Ten-Ten escaped it, very attentive of its movement. Once she found its limit, she placed herself at a particular angle.

She called on the power of another scroll and threw a hail of mixed sharp weapons on his current location. As he jumped back to avoid it, she ran forward and threw her barbed kunai in his direction. Had not it been slowed down by the chain it trailed, Shikamaru could have been seriously damage by the barbed weapon. He dodged it but heard it stick in a tree behind him. It was too much of a coincidence. He was right. Ten-Ten had the chain in both hands and began throwing, in a lashing motion, lengths and lengths of it to cut off Shikamaru's path. As she kept sumonning scrolls of simples kunais to rain on him, he could only jump away while trying not to get caught by one of her chain lash. This was getting tiring as he could not even perform his own technique! He was not used to let an adversary pull him in a physical contest of strength or agility! He tried to hide in the trees but the chains followed him, now gripping on the branches and cutting his escape! The flailing chains looked as if they had a life of their own, twisting and charging him in impossible angles.

He had to stop this. While jumping above the trees, he made some hand seals and called a jutsu softly. He got back in the forest patch through the foliage, chains awaiting him. But never to see him land. The chains stopped moving, their target having dissapeared.

Ten-Ten jumped out of the forest at once, getting back out of the shadows reach. Her enemy didn't attack, but she would not take that chance. She slammed her chain in the forest again and again, tying it around trees and rocks, searching for him. She did it until she was out of chains. She held the other end in her hand, waiting for him to come out. She would attack by pulling it back as soon as he would show his face.

An hour passed, proving Naruto's previous statement right.

"AWWWW! I'm asleep on my chair! Will this ever end? If I had knew he would mistake this match for a three day mission I would have brought my sleeping bag!" Sakura whinned, even if having the most confortable position of the three, sprawled on several seats. Naruto began thinking he was a bad influence.

"Calm down Sakura, it's about to end," said Naruto.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. His shadow will have grown enough. Do you think she's so stupid to be caught unaware?"

The next minutes would prove her wrong: Shikamaru's shadow shot out of the forest, using the one created by Ten-Ten's chain to trap her.

"I'll be damned. He got her! What is he gonna do now?" wondered Naruto aloud.

They all heard his voice from the arena.

"I give up!"

Back in the field, Ten-Ten, walking toward Shikamaru, was suddenly released as her adversary managed to walk up to her.

"Why did you do that, Nara?" asked Ten-Ten, still unfamiliar with the boy. "You had me."

"This is a shadow replication technique," began to explain Shikamaru. "That's the attack I can use with the less chakra. The technique I used to hide in the shadow that last hour drained me. If I got out before, I would have been caught by your chains. I waited for the forest's shadow to get near you to trap you, but by then, I didn't have enough chakra do to more."

The Uchiha Brothers didn't facefault or sweatdrop hearing that. They sighed. How _not_ surprising was that? Sakura got up, stretching far.

"Well, I guess it's finally my turn. See ya later guys! Maybe even in the arena…"

"With your luck, you'll be paired with Shikamaru at your next match!" teased Naruto.

"No, NO, NOT! He gave up! And if he would have won, I would have left him to one of you!" she protested loudly.

At that, she passed the corner down the stairs. Choji was walking at her side, his back stiff while staring right in from of him.

"Relax! It's just a spar until one of us loses! No big deal," Sakura tried to confort him.

"Relax? No big deal? Have you heard what Ino will do to me if I lose?" he asked, whinning.

"Yeah… well… You're better to prepare for it! You'll have to switch to ramen!" she said, smilling apologetically.

She looked so sure that his lost was already decided, that he almost gave up right then. Until another feeling took place. She underestimates him! Like everyone else do!

"Maybe I don't look like it…" he began in a low voice.

"No offence!" Sakura cut him, her hands up. "I've been trained by Naruto, Sasuke and, for the last month, Haku, who's as strong as a Chuunin himself. I don't wanna make you give up. I want a good match. You're better to give your all, Ino was no fun at all."

Choji was now sweating, his spike of confidence gone. Hopefully, Ino didn't hear that. But it was even worse if Sakura didn't underestimate him. She would be simply confident of her own power, regardless of how strong he was. He wished he could say the same.

"Are you ready? Hajime!" called Hayame, having it easy until now.

Choji wondered why Hayate took the time to ask if they were ready. He felt far from it! And Sakura was… where was she? The strawberry blond kunoichi answered that with a sudden warcry followed by a kick in his face, sending him rolling away. Back on the balcony, Naruto whistled and Sasuke nodded appreciably.

"Look like she did some true speed training, Aniki. She finally reached her current potential," observed Naruto.

"Yeah. Haku did a good job. What is Choji gonna do about this, I wonder?"

"Giant Rolling Meat Tank no jutsu!" called out the chubby boy.

Choji had, in one swift move, got up on his feat while finishing a small string of hand seals. He got easily ten times his original size, retracted his hands, legs and head inside his body and started rolling. Sakura moved out the way of the first charge, looking at him make a sharp turn to come back. She seemed to be pondering something. She came to a conclusion and started to run for the cover of the trees. She passed the point were Shikamaru waited for more than an hour and used the trees to boost her speed, jumping from trunk to trunk. Choji didn't care for such tactics. He rammed in the trees, bending them sideway. They did slow him down though. Choji figured that if he managed to keep a good momentum, he would catch up to her in the long run.

Sakura went in a straight line, and, doing so, reached the far wall of the arena very quickly. She turned around, her back to the wall, her hands behind her back. Seeing her trapped, Choji pulled out all the speed he could manage, not wanting her to escape. He could smell the barbecue of victory from where he was!

Halas, the smell escaped as Sakura did so. She backflipped to the wall, her feet gluing to it. She began to run up the wall, probably hoping for him to ram in it and take some damage. Thankfully, his month of training made him able to climb walls in his tank form too! He had enough momentum to do it! He would chase her all around the arena if need be!

He didn't need to. The two explosives notes left behind by Sakura, with a wall design paint on it, decided otherwise. They detonated right as he reached the wall. The power behind them, far from being life-threatening, stopped his roll and pushed him back a few meters.

Choji, getting back up after regaining his balance, still had his gargantuan form. He would be able to start the rolling again and hoped she didn't escape too far so he could catch up on her. That's another proof he didn't know the new Sakura well. She's not the kind to run away anymore.

He got a bad feeling when he saw shadows grow on his huge form. Looking up, the feeling changed to dread. Five pink-haired clones were freefalling on him. He retreated his head, arms and legs inside and waited for them to land on him. Her powerful hit would be dampened by his mass and he would roll on himself to get rid on them. One more proof he didn't follow her pattern of attack.

As the clones landed on him, none tried to hit him. They simply grabbed him. Since he could not possibly see them as he was, the notes that were burning on each clone's back took him totally by surprise as they exploded. His world became flashes and stars.

The spectators saw the following, in that order. Sakura ran away in the woods, Choji charging fast behind. Then they saw a faint explosion on the far wall on the edge of the forest. Moments after, a huge explosion rocked some trees and dirt up. Choji, battered with clothes ripped apart, came flying back in the main part of the arena. He skidded a while, rolling or simply sliding on dirt, until he stopped on something solid. His head was spinning painfully. Even then, he felt a chill come up his back. He turned around and realized he didn't stop on some rocks, but on Sakura's raised foot. She was sporting a predatory smile.

She slowly bent down and took him by the collar. She raised him on his feet with one hand until his toes hang two inches over the floor. She drew her other fist back, slowly. The hit, anticipated, wasn't any less painful. This time, Choji had no recollection of when he landed back on the ground. The next thing he saw was Sakura taking him by what was left of his collar, having it totally shred by the strength of the last hit. She heaved him up back on his feet. He hung up in the air again. Every single bones in his body were shaking. But he found he could not move a muscle!

"Choji?" she asked through her teeth.

"H-hai?" the scared boy managed to answer.

"Give up."

"I give up!"

She dropped him to the ground. Choji was blinking dumbly. What happened? He was still able to fight! He was just… He had been so scared of her. He managed to get up and started to walk toward the stairs, following Sakura. She was almost skipping and didn't look at all like the torturer he saw a minute ago.

He felt like that only two other times in his short life. The first was after a spar with Neji, several years ago. The other was in the Forest of Death, when they managed to steal a scroll and escape, thanks to Shikamaru's shadow and Ino's mind technique. They could not have beaten them in a fair fight. They barely managed to incapacitate them for a very short period of time. It was the feeling he got in front of someone so obviously out of his league.

He walked silently at Shikamaru's seat, taking the one next to it. Ino's yelling was far in the background.

"Shika?" he asked numbly.

"Hum?"

"She was way weaker than me at the Academy. Since we became ninja, I though that my training would keep me far ahead of the likes of her."

Ino stopped shouting by then. The mood was heavy.

"We'll have to get serious. Less cloud watching and chip munching," he said, shaking his head.

"That would be so troublesome," sighed his best friend.

"Yeah. But I'm doing this. With your help or not."

Shikamaru froze, starring in front of him with wide eyes. Ino was the spiritual leader of the group, the motivator. But it was he who took much of the decisions, being the smartest of the three. To see Choji so sure of himself, regardless of what he, his best friend, though, sadden him but made him proud at the same time. This butterfly doesn't want to keep making small circles. He wants to explore further than that.

"We're a team, Choji," he mumbled. "Never forget that. I'll help you. If you help me keep to up."

"Sure thing bro."

"Hey! Don't forget me! I'm part of the team too!" whined Ino.

Shikamaru turned toward her, dead serious.

"Then extract your own revenge against Sakura. She had beaten _you_. It's up to _you_ to make it even. Don't worry, we're a team. We'll help you train. If you help us…"

The team Ino-Shika-Cho endured three lost. But the gain they got from it was priceless.

During that time, Sasuke was climbing down the stairs. He was thinking of how he should handle this fight. Gaara was already waiting for him in the arena. He seemed… impatient.

Up in the Kage balcony, the Sand leader was getting interested.

"Haaa. The Uchiha prodigy. The culmination of this event. I'm truly curious of how he will fare against Gaara."

"I'm sure you are. I find very funny how you're praising Uchiha Sasuke instead of your own offspring. Did the Sand lost so much of it's pride? Or would it be something else?" said the Hokage lightly.

The Kazekage slowly turned toward the Hokage. He was sitting, relaxed, his head turned toward the arena but his right eyes was fixed on him. And he was smirking. He knew! As the impostor Kage was about to jump out of his seat, the Hokage addressed him again.

"No matter. I'm truly curious about this match too. Let's sit and enjoy. It has been such a long time we've both been here…"

Orochimaru, under the Kazekage's robes, was off balance. He knew! It was so evident! But he wasn't surprised, nor scared! Did he caught wind of the attack? It didn't matter anymore. He wasn't planning of overtaking Konoha. He knew he didn't have the manpower for that. He simply needed to cut the head of the village. For that, everything was set. Let the man enjoys his last show.

Down on the fighting ground, Sasuke was avoiding making eye contact with Gaara. It was so frustrating! Naruto had the chance to prove he could become Chuunin but not he! Even if he proved, while using little energy, that he is Chuunin material, what would they think of him when he would give up, still fresh? Not to mention it was unfair to Gaara too. It was all _so_ unfair. But it had to be this way.

"Ready? Hajime!"

Gaara simply crossed his arms, waiting for Sasuke to attack. When it didn't come after five minutes, he frowned.

"What are you waiting for, Uchiha?"

"The Easter Bunny," grumbled Sasuke.

"What?" Gaara was truly confused now.

"Gnnnngggnnn. Nevermind. Prepare yourself, I'm coming at you… Yadiyadiyada. You know the drill."

Sasuke began to bounce on his feet. Then, to every Genin present, with the notable exception of Naruto and Lee, Sasuke disappeared. Contrarily to Sakura, who appeared in front of her adversary a moment later, Sasuke reappeared… behind his. The hit was partially blocked by sand. Just enough to change it's course.

It didn't take long to Gaara to realize something: Sasuke was easily as fast as Lee without his weight on. After quite a few hits, he saw that he didn't seem to tired in any way. Of course, his punches and kicks didn't carry the same weight that those of Lee, but it was still impressive. But how could he expect to beat him in a way that Lee failed in? The difference seemed to came in the choice of the angles from the hits. The now active Doujutsu of his adversary let him predict where his sand would have the most trouble to counter his attack! Gaara had to stop this right now. He didn't want to have a replay of Lee's fight. It had been painful enough the first time. He made hand seals and called a technique, lost in the noises of Sasuke's relentless attack. As he finished, a sand clone appeared at his side.

Sasuke, for his part, had loads of fun. He just though of a plan that, maybe, would impress the judges enough to make him pass! As the clone materialized, he smiled. That was even better! He had long figured something about Gaara. He doesn't carry that gourd around for the fun of it. It contains, and seems to be made of, the sand he can control. That clone is, obviously, made of that sand. The same one he's scattering around to block his attack.

The same one he was hitting away from Gaara in circles, always wider around. Gaara had a limited quantity of that particular sand. The clone started for him. The flaw in that move was very subtle, but crucial. How did Gaara hoped that a clone, as fast as his sand, would manage to hit him when the rest of it didn't land a scratch on him yet? Sasuke took great care no to destroy it. If he hit it with a strong blow or a lethal technique, it would simply disperse and join the rest of the defending sand close to him. Sasuke resumed his strategy of pushing away Gaara's Ultimate protection away from him, drawing wide circle all around his foe. The clone did his best to follow, getting a hit or sweep at the leg as a reward most of the time.

'Meh…' though Sasuke. 'It's not like Sarutobi's kinjutsu, but it should do the tricks.'

Sasuke, still running circles around Gaara, stopped right in front of him, less than two meters away. Gaara saw his sand and clone came back toward him, like in slow motion, while his adversary was performing a string of seals right in front of him. His protection was almost back when the leaf Genin called:

"Muiton: Wicked Twister no jutsu!"

The air pressure dropped like a flower vase from the table: too fast to be stopped. A small twister that hid well it's strength appeared to everyone in the stadium. It hid both contestants but the most observant would tell you this interesting fact: Gaara's sand and clone were unable to get pass it.

Inside the funnel, Gaara was starring at Sasuke. He had never though someone could cut him off from his sand like that! He didn't dare to use the little sand left around him to attack, in case the Uchiha simply run passed it to deliver a direct strike. He wasn't blind. The Uchiha did all of this simply to get close enough without any disturbance. To his greatest surprise, The Uchiha dropped on one knee, keeping the jutsu active. What was he doing with his left hand? Very slowly, Sasuke was letting go of the seal formation from his right hand… and shifted it to his left! A one-handed jutsu? Then, he slowly began to make one-handed seal from the other hand! Was that even possible?

Gaara kneeled to the ground too, to offer less grip to whatever was coming his way. He used what little sand was left around him to put a wall between him and the other Genin.

On his side, as soon as Gaara retreated behind his wall, Sasuke jumped as high as he could, making the last hand seal of his trademark technique.

"Katon: Great Fireball Technique."

The continuous stream of fire he breathed out helped to propel him further back. But that was just a bonus. Up in the air, the rotating wall of wind had less power, which is how he got out of his own technique. The jet of flame caught in the wind and began to spiral with it, rapidly covering it all. Sasuke closed his left hand, causing the forming fire twister to close itself tightly around the Sand ninja. Sasuke kept it like that for a whole ten seconds before letting it go, breathing hard.

Back in the stadium, Naruto watched it with an amused frown.

"Hold back, my ass!"

The wind stopped, the flames died down and the smoke cleared. Some fumes were still coming from the prone form of the round shield of the sand user, but that was it. The sand that was away from Gaara quickly came back to him, showing he was still very much alive. The sand clone was apart too since he got disintegrated while trying to pass the raging inferno. The small layer of sand Gaara used to shield himself from the blunt of the heat was now of a deep brown. Maybe, if he had kept it there long enough, it would have turned to glass…

Gaara appeared from under his dome almost as brown as the sand that was protecting him. His sand armor now gave him an even more tanned look! He looked furious. Even that word seemed too light for the expression his face was showing.

'Now… for the 'coup de grace'... ' though Sasuke, grinning.

He turned his back to Gaara, walking toward the stadium stairs, raising a lazy hand in the air.

"I give up. Next!"

If only he had knew the result of this simple sentence… he would have asked Naruto to take pictures. Gaara froze for two whole seconds. Then…

"WHAT! Come back here, Uchiha! We're not done yet!"

"Winner: Gaa.."

Hayate was swept hard by an unexpected wave of hard burning sand. The thing was, the sand was directly connected to Gaara's arm, making it impossibly long. As Sasuke turned, he saw the demon-carrier face…

* * *

"WHAT? What is this stupid Uchiha thinking?" yelled the Kazekage, jumping to his feet. "He can still fight! It's written down all over his face! Are you raising coward now, old man?"

"Ohohohohoho! Now that was fun! And smart! Ending the fight after such a combo attack, never getting a hit from his adversary!"

"Shut up, old man! We'll see if you can do the same!"

The Kazekage pulled out his robe, revealing a pissed off Orochimaru. As he made a swipe at the Hokage, this later flipped over his chair, on one hand, upside down, countering the kunai with an armoured boot before jumping back.

"What's the matter, boy, didn't get what you wanted for Christmas?" the Hokage mocked him.

Orochimaru simply went out of the balcony to jump up on the roof. The Hokage followed him, not missing a beat. He faced the waiting Sanin, not showing a hint of fear or worry. He didn't even seem to care when four Sound ninja jumped out from nowhere to seal them in a giant kekkai, closing them from the outside world. That was fine by him. He would not have to restrain himself any.

As he pulled on his ceremonial clothes and let it float on the ground, he though about the life he had in the last month. Stamina training with Gai and Lee. Jutsu practice with Kakashi and Sasuke. Those two strained their Sharingan, trying to copy his jutsus! S-Rank missions, like that one where he had to hunt down one of the Seven Legendary Swordsman of the Mist. He would have to thank Naruto for that story about a hedgehog and a pincushion that gave him the inspiration for his last attack against that foe.

Sarutobei was dressed with an opened brown leather vest and long legged pants. He had arms and legs protectors with hooked spikes. A lot of scrolls hangs all around his multiple small pockets.

"My, my…You seem prepared to face your doom…" began Orochimaru omniously.

"Ha! I'll make you eat that rope you take for a fashion belt, white snake!" he yelled back.

Orochimaru didn't know what to think of this. Where was the old and tired leader he was sitting at the sides of, moments ago?

"Surprised? Don't be! I'll admit you got a long way from the paled face prodigy I was fond of. Let see if the paled face traitor is any better! I'll kick your sorry ass so bad you'll enlist for the next Genin exam at the Academy!"

Sarutobei laugh out loud at his own joke. Naruto was right! This was so much fun!

Orochimaru was stunned. Who was that young old man? He's remembering him a little of his master back then…

The snake Sanin shook his head. Now was not the time to get nostalgic!

"You're an old fool if you think you can stand up to me now. I'll kill you where you stand."

"Oh, well. If you must. Don't forget to water the plants in my office."

At that, the old man attacked.

* * *

**Mwouhahaha! Cliffhanger! Until you hit the next chapter, that is.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hinata. What? Expected something else?**

* * *

Hayate was knocked out cold by the demonic hand of the racoon-possessed boy. Sasuke slowly turned back to face Gaara, making no sharp moves. Sand-boy was emitting a very potent killing intent. It was, no surprise there, directed at him.

He detailed the new form Gaara took, overcome by anger, in a split-second. His left side was covered with a very thick layer of sand. Somehow, it looked... different. No longer could you make out the grain pattern in the sand. It seemed… smooth and united. As if the man and the sand were a single being. The left side of his face too had changed and the eye, surrounded by the new sandy brown skin, was glowing of a bright gold-yellow light. He was breathing hard. Sasuke wondered if anything was left of the guy.

"Gaara?"

The boy winced, put his right hand on his face, like in pain to remember, as if trying to clear his head. But he gave up and supported, once again, a demented grin.

'He's barely awake, but he's still in there,' though Sasuke.

The raven-haired boy looked right and left to conclude that Gaara's transformation was the signal for the attack. Sound ninja were everywhere in the stadium, fighting Jonins. Explosions rocked from afar, probably at the edge of the village and the Hokage was on top of his balcony, facing Orochimaru in some sort of kekkai.

He looked back at Gaara. He was the immediate threat right now. It was not the time to hold back, but if he was to fight someone possessed by a bijuu… He might need help.

"Be patient, Gaara. Naruto will be here in a moment. Then, we will fight like you wanted. You'll have the occasion to ask…"

"NO QUESTIONS! To TEAR! To RIP OFF all of your members! Break bones, drink your blood and dance on the remains of your body before burning them and scattering the ashes! That's the only truth!" yelled the possessed Sand ninja.

Despite his words, he didn't attack. He was looking left and right, probably searching for a patch of blond hair. Sasuke smiled. Maybe Gaara was more in control than the demon himself though.

* * *

"Men! This is bad! He let the demon out!" groaned Naruto.

"What?" was the outraged shout of all his Genin friends. A moment later, most of them dropped asleep while white feathers fell all around them.

"Right. Great timing for an attack. Unfortunately. Who's left awake? Shikamaru! Wake up! I know you're faking! Shino? Sakura? No one else? No use waking the other up, they'll just fall asleep again. It's an area jutsu. I've got to get to Sasuke, he needs help. You three go to the nearest Jonin and take your orders. Go!"

The shadow user groaned from where he was on the floor, his body getting even more limp if possible.

"Shikamaru, hurry up!" Sakura said. "It's not the time to get lazy! Let's go. I think I saw Gai-san and Kakashi-sensei over there. Hurry up!"

Mumbling his word of predilection, Shikamaru followed Sakura with the ever silent Shino.

Naruto didn't hear Shikamaru's protest. He was already in the arena. He got beside Sasuke as the demon-controlled ninja seemed to be looking for something. As the hostile eyes fell on him, he realized it was him that the thing was looking for.

"Jinchuriki! I'll kill you now!" he yelled.

"If you can catch up that is," Naruto shrugged.

Naruto turned his back to him, stepped up to a railing and jumped on the roof. He spared a glance where the Hokage fought the lost Sanin, at the other end of the building's roof.

"Better be safe, old man," he muttered to himself.

Sasuke followed Naruto without a word. The mass of demonic sand Gaara had become followed them through Konoha.

* * *

"Yosh! Kakashi, my friend, we should make the count of enemy we each lay down in a contest to measure the flame of our youth!" claimed Maito Gai.

"You do that," deadpanned his 'youthfull masked rival'.

"Oooooh! Always so 'hip'! I will not lose to you!"

Sakura, Shikamaru and Shino heard that as they got near the non-ninja populated part of the stadium. No doubt that the death of a few officials would be a political opportunity for Orochimaru to place his own mole in the system.

"Kakashi-sensei! We've come to help!" Sakura announced as soon as she got within ear shot.

"YOSH! More friend to join the quest of…"

The rest was drowned in the battles sounds Gai seemed to carry all around him. He never stopped his assault, neither did the flow of enemy seemed to stop.

"Sakura, Shikamaru, Shino. I know you're not used to teamwork together but right now, you are a three men team. Here's the situation: Naruto and Sasuke are going to fight a demon-carrier gone berserk while the Hokage is fighting one of the most dangerous S-Class missing nin of Konoha with no hope for help while the border of the village seem to be under attack and the population here is threatened by Sound ninja. We could have gone with better preparations."

The three Genins stood silent. The situation was bad, but they had to concentrate on what they could do.

"We need an escape route for the people here. The invaders don't seem numerous inside the village, at the notable exception of the stadium. It's to wonder where they hid. Thanks, Shikamaru."

The Nara just caught a sneaking ninja, gaving the opportunity to the Jonin to knock him out. Shino's bug were buzzing all around, doing things they rather not to think about while Sakura threw explosive kunais left and right at unexpecting foe. It was surprising they could still hear each others in the middle of this symphony of detonations and screams.

"You're going to make a bee line for the North Gate. Dispatch of every Sound nin, might they get in your way or not. Any of the other foreign ninja are to be treated with suspicion. Ask them to take cover until the end of hostilities or to go and help defend the walls. Let none of them follow you. You need to trust your teammates. Once at the gate, help to clear it. If you judge it's going to take too much time, choose another gate, clear the way back to the stadium and report back to me or… Gai. The evacuation may take hours, depending on the number of enemy we'll ran into. They mostly seem to be canon fodder, but don't take them lightly. You're all still Genins. Go!"

The newly formed three man team took off and left the place in a flash. They didn't go far as they stumble on Kankuro of the Sand and his teammate, Temari. They seemed to be tracking someone. Probably their berserk teammate. Sakura pulled out a soldier pill and gave it to Shikamaru. They're was no way he had enough chakra to fight after his match. She whispered to him, loud enough for Shino to hear.

"Take it. You'll lead this team. Your sense of strategy outclasses mine ten to one. We can't let those two hinder Sasuke and Naruto. Their fight is already hard enough."

Shikamaru only nodded and swallowed the pill. He stood a little straighter and they went for the two enemy nin, who had their back to them.

"They probably know we're after them already. Shino and you will try to get passed them. Use our knowledge of the place against them. We'll surround them and propose a truce. If they refuse, we'll wear them down with an attack-retreat pattern. Since they need to get away fast, they'll use more energy then us to break free. Let's go!"

* * *

Sarutobei had the fun of his life! Orochimaru, in close combat, mainly used special strikes and combos. He was not much for long strings of blows. Each one he delivers is meant to kill and had the strength to cut a ninja's career short. The Fire Kage saw those attack many times in the last month. In missions, his adversaries were fighting like demons in holy water when they figured out against who they were up!

A long gash found him the whole length of his left arm, another crossed his upper left leg and he had a puncture wound just under a rib. Thankfully, he remembered back how annoying a superficial wound could be this last month. He wasn't a medic nin, but he had all the chakra control needed for medical jutsu. He changed one he knew so much that it didn't hold any resemblance with the original. His new technique allows him to cure any superficial wound in a flash at the price of a nasty scar. At this point, Sarutobei didn't care.

Orochimaru had his share of hits too. The old man kept the pressure on with his kunai play and always ended up landing a fist, a knee or elbow somewhere on him. Due to the numerous experiments he made on himself, his body was a lot more resilient but the hits still carried some weight.

Sarutobei superbly ignore the menace of Orochimaru's kunai and was pressing on. It didn't matter much anyway. Both knew that this was barely foreplay before the real fight. A demonstration, a show. The game would be played between the man who knew over a thousand jutsu and the one who invented so many forbidden ones.

"What happens, old man? Feeling your death loom over you so you're playing the 'young man' to fool yourself?"

"Don't burry me too fast, snake! I still have the power to rip off your skins until I find the good one!"

Orochimaru frowned. This was far from his predictions. He broke the fight and began forming hand seals. The real fight was starting.

* * *

"Is that what a ninja of Konoha is good at? Flee? When I'll catch you, I'll rip those freakin' legs!"

Naruto and Sasuke shivered. The voice of the demonic entity had taken quite a rough edge. And volume. Gaara was less and less present. The taunting to get him away from the village enraged him more and more.

"We won't be able to keep him at distance for long, Naruto. He's taking more and more demonic chakra! We'll have to fight him the next chance we get," yelled Sasuke to be heard over the crashing trees behinf them.

"What about the plan?" asked Naruto, getting worried.

"We'll never get to the Valley of the End! Forget it! If you dare, look back at him and tell me he isn't getting bigger than a Multisized Choji!"

Naruto looked. Then he turned back in front of him. His face took a shade paler and his steps got longer.

"Aniki?" the blond said in a shaking voice.

"What?"

"He lost it."

Sasuke looked back to see the fully growing form of Shukaku. The transformation would be impossible to stop now. Gaara was nowhere to be seen and the thing was getting past the tree's tops.

"What do we do now?" asked Naruto.

"We get to the river in area fourteen, a little south of here. Then we hit it with all we've got."

"That's it?"

"We'll use the river to try and diffuse its form with water jutsu."

Naruto's face closed. They would have to fight with the intention to kill or they'll never have a chance. If only one of them had a summon big enough and powerful enough to fight on an even ground…

The run was as uneventful as a chase by a giant demonic sand racoon can be. As they were about to pass the tree line, Sasuke tossed one end of a steel wire to Naruto and threw many flash bombs in the air.

Shukaku was blinded as he rushed to reach the two impertinent ninjas. Already with a good momentum, he could not avoid the rope, that was, in fact, a braid of many steel wires. It was tied to the trees at foot level to him. The trees snapped like twigs and the wire broke but it managed to accomplish its task. The sandy behemoth fell down.

"Suiton: Water Dragon Blast Skill!"

Twin water dragons rose from the river right next to where he fell to slam right in his back. Shukaku howled before getting back up. Physical pain was way bellow him but jutsus still affected him. Especially water ones who kept slowing him down. He was dripping, but not that much, having reached his full height. The river seemed tiny compared to him. Shukaku started to trample. He would mince those kids into tiny pieces right after flattening them under his feet!

Sasuke and Naruto had much to do not to get stepped on. They jumped, ran around and stood on water only to fell from the shaking ground, the falling trees, the flying water or to get kick by a monstrous foot.

A chill went in the air. As Shukaku dropped a foot on the ground, he slipped over and fell on his back. Part of the river turned to ice. Naruto grinned. Even if he was nowhere to be seen, Haku had joined the fight.

"Doton: Muddy swamp of putrefaction!"

Naruto put all the chakra he could in that technique. He could not put all of his chakra far from it, the jutsu having limits he could not get over. Even then, the frosted watery ground under Shukaku was perfect to be turned into a deep greyish goo that Naruto knew Haku would get the idea to freeze the demon in it.

Sasuke saw the beginning of the ice jutsu froze the swamp, but recognized it at one of the slow processing jutsu of Haku. He must be running low on chakra after freezing a good length of the river.

"Katon: Fireblade!"

From Sasuke's mouth, fire swelled but instead of growing into the usual fireball or fireblast, it pooled right over Sasuke in a gigantic fire ring. The jutsu ended when the ring got as big as half of one of Shukaku's arm. The problem with that jutsu was to take care not to injure yourself and your allies. Sasuke emitted chakra over his hands, chakra that, if you looked closely was moving upside long his palm. As he grabbed the fire ring floating over his head, it began to spin. He ran toward Shukaku, the spinning ring of fire going faster and faster. Naruto saw the direction Sasuke took and started to run toward the monster too, blue rotating chakra gathering in each of his hands.

Shukaku was almost up, out of the slowly frosting pool of mud when the arm he was supporting himself on got hit by something hot! And sharp! He moved his arm away but fell back down in the process. He tried to get back up from the other side but his hand got attacked by some tiny stinging… thing. He could feel it dig easily into his sandy flesh all over his wrist! Now the fire started to burn his shoulder! Those annoying bugs!

Naruto had to jump out from the body he was happily mutilating, but not by choice. Shukaku was shaking his arms and legs, his back being frozen solid in the mud, for now. Haku, panting, came from under the trees to join them. Sasuke had stopped his attack and was limping toward them.

"All the wound I gave him closed so fast! It's useless!" said Sasuke.

"It's the demonic chakra," replied Naruto.

"So it's healing him and will do so as long as he has some," completed Haku, looking defeated.

The mud started to crack.

"We have to wake Gaara," realized Sasuke.

"Why for? And how could we even reach him?" asked Haku.

Naruto slapped his head.

"Of course! The demon his only able to have control when Gaara is asleep! Look! On Shukaku's forehead! Gaara _is_ asleep! But how… humm… Haku, do you have enough energy to make two more ice mirrors?"

Naruto's face was lit up by an evil smile, which was comforting for Sasuke to see. He must have got an idea. A crazy one. Those always work.

"Here, Haku. A soldier pill. That's my last one," Sasuke said, tossing the chakra candy to the ice user.

Haku took it gratefully. Naruto didn't wait anymore to explain his plan.

"Sasuke will distract him. You will transport me right over him with your mirror and drop me on his forehead! I'll take care of the rest. You'll have to build it just out of reach so he doesn't destroy it if he sees it too fast."

"What? That's crazy! I've never done that before!" panicked Haku. "You could be trapped in a mirror!"

"If you do your best, I know you can. I trust you," Naruto said, smilling at him.

That shut him up. As Sasuke slowly limped back toward the wiggling beast, They took the cover of the trees to take the beast as much by surprise as possible.

* * *

"Surrender! You're outnumbered. We don't want to kill you if we don't have to."

The sand siblings were back to back, in an alley. Sakura was at one end, Shino at the other. Shikamaru was the one who just talked, his shadow ready.

"Right!" said Kankuro. "We'll surrender to the one we just attacked. Sorry pals! You'd better get out of our way. We're going to find our brother, that you agree or not. You don't know what he's able to do in this state of mind."

"Because that's not exactly what you planned would happen? The joined attack of your village with the Sound was not starting with the transformation of Gaara, possessed by his demon?" Shikamaru asked sarcasticly.

"What? No! I...I don't think so. That's not what the Kazekage..." protested Temari weakly.

"Who? Oh! You mean the guy Orochimaru took the place of! Face it. You've been played. We're giving you the opportunity to redeem yourself in the name of your village. It's not too late. You'll be able to get back to your brother after that," Sakura said in turn.

"You'll never contain him..." mumbled Kankuro, shaking his head.

"The Uchiha Brothers are the two strongest Genins of Konoha. If they pass the Chuunin exam, I bet they'll be the strongest Chuunin of Konoha. Don't be fooled. Gaara is going down. Don't worry, they won't kill him. It's just not their style," Sakura said confidently, smiling wickedly.

Sakura wanted to add that it was their style to kill an enemy ninja, but not in this kind of situation. There was no sense in tensing the mood more than it was, right?

"What would you want us to do?" asked a sceptical Temari.

"Either you stand down until the end of the hostilities somewhere or you go to the North-East gate to help the Jonin secure the walls."

"Where are you three going?" asked Kankuro in his turn.

"The North gate," answered Sakura.

"I see. We'll go to the North East Gate then," decided Temari.

Shikamaru gave way on his end of the alley and jumped on the walls, joining Shino. Sakura was on his other side, half a second later.

"Good luck."

The newly formed three-men team departed to find others enemies.

"We're going to the North East Gate now?" asked an unbelieving Kankuro.

"Forget that. Let's wait a minute and get back to tracking Gaara," snorted Temari.

"What are we going to do if we find him?"

"We'll figure that out once we're there."

* * *

Orochimaru knew he would fight one of the man who knew the most jutsus on the surface of the planet. To do it was something else entirely. While he was preparing a technique to change all the broken bits around him into snakes, the old man summoned Enma, the monkey boss. He hurried, a strange smile on his face, to take out two scrolls and summoned their content in turn. One of them had two strange oblong containers he strapped on his back. One of them had a gauge on it. Then, Enma changed into his ultimate weapon form. But he looked… thicker.

His own jutsu was long done and a wide and pilling army of snakes was gathering all around him. Nonetheless, he was too intrigued to order them to attack. The scientist in him was curious. As the Hokage plugged Enma on some tube from the container, he realized why Enma's form looked different. He was hollow!

"Are you done yet?" he asked sarcasticly.

"Nobody stopped you from attacking me. But as I guessed, curiosity took over you…"

"Well then, we'll see if the wait was worth it."

The snakes army, all at once, slimed with amazing speed toward the Hokage. A maniacal smile found the old man's lips. He pointed the modified Enma toward the mass of slithering reptiles. Something shot out so fast the Sanin barely saw its moving form! The result was a lot more evident as the pointed fray exploded in shards of bones and flesh before coming back in its original, but more damaged form: tiles rumbles.

The Hokage, laughing like a possessed mad-man, started shooting projectiles left and right on anything that moved. Some of them exploded, like the first one. Others froze the targeted area on a few feet while the last sprayed some kind of corrosive content.

As Orochimaru tried to turn more pieces of the roof to overrun the old fool, Sarutobei got him right in his cross air. The Sanin froze like a deer in the spotlight and he cursed himself for his stupidity. He should have used that moment to get out of the way. The Hokage let out a projectile and the Snake Sanin could only do so much to evade the projectile. His back bent backward at an impossible angle, hoping for the rushing ball with a seal meaning 'explosion' written on it to pass by him. He would have made it, if it had not been for the thick rope he took for a fashion belt.

The blast sent him backward to hit the barrier. He fell back on his hand and knees, smoking from the Sound Four's barrier burnt, waiting for some more blast to take him out. His head was spinning, but he was stubborn enough to get back up. He discarded his ripped clothes and was left in a skin-tight black jumpsuit that was opened on the chest and back. Scorched marks covered his torso. As his balance came back, he looked toward his enemy, wondering why he did not use that opportunity.

The old man was on his knee, hitting the roof with a hand, laughing hard. He was uttering something that Orochimaru had to strain an ear to figure out.

"H-h-h-h-h-h-his… b-b-b-belt! By his b-b-b-belt! MWOUAAAAAAHAHAHAHA!"

Orochimaru's cheeks redden as he yelled his frustration.

"Really now? We'll see how you like this then, old fool!"

Orochimaru made hand seals at a speed rarely seen in all the history of Konoha. Only a handful of shinobi through times could have pulled that off. Fate decided he would face another of these man.

"Impure World Resurrection no jutsu!"

From the shaking ground came out a coffin with 'First' written on it. The Hokage was back on his feet by then. When another coffin with 'Second' written on it spurred from the ground, he really worried. As the third coffin came out of he ground marked with the 'Fourth' symbol, he began to panic. He took Enma and yelled:

"ENMA! SECOND FORMATION!"

The monkey boss grew almost instantly four supplementary cannons. The Hokage fired non-stop, five rounds at the time, at the emerging rectangular box that, he guessed, contained some kind of reincarnation of the Fourth Hokage. He blew the part that manages to get above ground to bits.

Seeing the utter destruction of one of his new helper, Orochimaru didn't lose any time and activated the opening of the two first coffins. Stabbing them in the back with kunaïs, he took control of the two Kage's bodies and put them out of the blast's way. The battle reached a new level. The moves were fast and the talking reserved for calling techniques.

Sarutobei was livid. How dare he use the bodies of the village's heroes to commit his crimes? He would make him regret the day he had the idea to make up that jutsu.

Trees spurted everywhere, blocking his fired missiles thrown at Orochimaru. Dead or not, the First incarnation didn't lose its touch with the wood manipulation. It made more bits and pieces for the Snake Sanin to turn into his favourite reptile. The Second came into play after having found a nice hiding place and summoned darkness to fall on the Third Hokage's head.

Seeing nothing else than blackness all around him, Sarutobei knew he had to take drastic measure. He would not be able to fight three men of that level without his eyes.

"Enma. Last Formation please."

Totally blind, guessing snakes and trees were going after him to beat him to a pulp, he held Enma over his head, which grew twenty more canons. They were directed in front, back, side to side and even above him. He gathered up the power necessary and fired, in one shot, all the ammunition he had left. The air tank was not even half-way empty, same for the ammunition tank. The bottle containing the compressed air cracked. The hose that plugged Enma to the ammunition tank exploded. But that blast did some incredible damage. The Second Hokage zombie, hidden behind a tree at the base of its roots, was in the direct path of three missiles. The two first froze and exploded the gigantic vegetal trunk to bits and the last one simply took off his head. No need to say that it was enough to take the concentration to maintain the darkness jutsu away. He fell down to the ground, nothing more keeping up his undead body.

The First too was protected by trees, but had the advantage of being able to replace the fallen one to avoid being hit. He could not take the opportunity right after the attack of the present Hokage to retaliate, his concentration at protecting himself, and more importantly, his master Orochimaru, from damage taking all his wits. Many of the newly grown trees fell on them.

The Hokage, who was in a dire situation, just turned the tide in his favor, or, at least, to a stand up. Enma took his classical staff form, ready to land a help to his summonner. Sarutobei got the remains of the bottles off his back.

The First grew up more trees to free himself and the Snake Sanin from under this mess. Sarutobei had a difficult choice to make. He had a technique that would give him the immediate advantage, but it could easily kill him in the process. He could not evade the vegetal technique for much longer like this and he could not get near his old student. No technique he would launch against him would be strong enough to make serious damage through the wall of wood the First will shield him with. Finally, the choice wasn't that hard to make. He struck Enma at his side, in the wood of a root he was standing on.

Orochimaru opened his mouth wide. The tip of a sword was coming out.

The First Hokage made hand seals, and very solid looking pointy roots began to grow all around him.

The Third Hokage balled his fist at his side, arm extended and yelled:

"First Gate: OPEN!"

* * *

Haku was slowly making, back under the cover of the trees, the first mirror in which he would take Naruto. It needed to be perfect. Even more since he would need to make the second one fast enough so that Shukaku didn't see it before it was too late. The one-tail, under no current menace, was thinking of the best way to get out of the massive slab of ice. It would have been free if he would be trapped anywhere else than by his back! It helped that he was not used to think about something that didn't involve blood, ripped flesh, broken bones and sweet death screams.

Sasuke prepared a jutsu. This one was very long to build up but quite powerful. He would be pretty much out of the fight after that. It was his only large-scale attack. He never though he would have to use it so soon. He saw, from the corner of his eye, the first mirror of Haku almost finished. He began to make a good number of hand seals. Any seals master would ask himself what he was trying to achieve with so much power seals, some lightning ones and almost no control seals. Hopefully, he would only need to call the technique at the end of the power up. Now for the hardest part: get Shukaku's attention while he was powering up.

"Hey, Brownie! I though you were a racoon, not a turtle!"

Haku, back in the forest, was almost done finish to inspect every single inches of his mirror to assure a smooth transfer. He got a look at Sasuke and frowned questionably.

"What is he doing?"

"Oh, MAN! He's imitating me!" Naruto said unbelievingly. "That's going to be priceless! Take a look once you're done, it'll be definitely worth it!"

Shukaku stopped his struggling, not realizing he was almost out, to look at the offending bug at his feet.

"Naaaaaniiii?"

"What the hell were you thinking about? That's... not the way you're gonna get a… woman… female demon… whatever…" Sasuke said hesitantly, while having to concentrate on his power-up.

Naruto was holding both hands before his mouth to stop his laughing. Haku barely heard Naruto say, through his own chocked state:

"Heeeere it come! Prepare the second mirror Haku!"

Shukaku wasn't sure he heard well.

"That must be your problem!" kept on Sasuke, showing false assurance. "You can't get any because of… your dry skin! It must cause you a lot of…"

"Go, Haku!"

"…sexual frustration," ended Sasuke.

Several things happened after a slight still moment. Haku rushed to make the second mirror over Shukaku, undetected, as this one was shooting his rage and humiliation toward the sky and Sasuke finished his seal, calling his technique. Naruto was rolling on the ground, laughing.

"Demonic Ice Mirror! Get up Naruto!" said Haku, sweating.

"Raijin: Ultra Wide Static Shock! Take that, sand boy!" yelled Sasuke, striking the monster's foot with his opened palm. The demon jolted up and his scream of rage changed for one of pain. The four second Sasuke managed to hold his jutsu was enough for Haku to finish his second mirror and Naruto to get through it. As Sasuke fell on his knees, he saw Naruto, in a free fall from the sky, aiming right for Gaara, his hand drew back. Even from afar, he saw each of his fingers lit with a blue fire and heard him shout his technique.

"Secret Art: Demonic Sealing technique!"

Naruto's fall seemed to last an eternity. But his strike, right in Gaara's chest, happened in a flash. Naruto, still in mid-air, saw Gaara's mouth open wide, like his eyes, in a soundless scream.

"Yeah, that hurt like a bitch, does it?" grinned Naruto.

Cut from its container, the demonic chakra dissipated, like the hold Shukaku had on Gaara's mind and body. Naruto fell and rolled on the sand slide until it flattens out.

"Whoohoo! Instant beach no jutsu!" the blond Genin yelled, sprawled on his back.

Naruto was laughing, the exhaustion finally catching up to him. Yep, it was the second time he did that technique right. He turned his head toward Gaara, grabbed him by a shoulder and rolled him on the back. The rusty-haired teen took a great gulp of air. He slided on the belly all the way down and felt he had his whole gourd in his mouth.

"Haa." he panted.

"Yeah, me too," agreed Naruto. "You listening to me?"

He got his answer in the form of a nod.

"You want to know how I'm that well accepted? I'm no demon. He's sealed inside of me. People would have though I am him, though, if I would act like you do. You gotta keep trying, man. It was not my fault I got this thing inside of me! It's not as if my father chooses me on purpose, sealed a demon inside of me and trained me as a weapon!"

"Mine did," argued Gaara, shooting a venomous look his way.

"Your father is a jackass. You should have realized that," Naruto answered, not letting that bit of a news take him down.

"My father is the Kazekage," pressed Gaara, as if it justified the man's act.

"Sorry then. Your father _was_ a jackass. We guessed Orochimaru's plan as he took your father's place."

"My father's dead?" asked Gaara, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah."

"Oh. Ok."

Then Gaara remembered something else.

"It doesn't explain why it's happening to _me_! Why can't I sleep without waking up smelling blood all around me, finding there were a few more ninja deaths during the night? If killing is all I can do, it defines my existence. I kill, so I am."

"When you'll have killed everyone around you, you'll cease to exist then?" asked Naruto, following the logic. "Nobody will be left to recognize your existence. Your seal is defective? Repair it! Nobody have that knowledge in your village to do it? Ask for help! That's what allies are there for! I know a seal Master who's going to be thrilled to help you. Take your fate in your own hands and your village will end up judging you by your actions instead of the circumstances of your birth."

Gaara let out a loud sight. Finally. He had a concrete plan for a better life. He had given up by now.

"One more question," he said, tired.

"Shoot," Naruto said, closing his eyes.

"Why haven't we met before?"

"That, I have no answer to."

Temari and Kankuro arrived at that moment. They saw the carnage, the remains of what was obviously Shukaku's full demonic bodies and their little brother chit-chatting, laid down on the comfortable sand, with one of those he was supposed to kill. The other Genins were right. Those Brothers guys were full of surprises.

"Rest now, bro," Naruto told Gaara casually. "Sleep a little. Tomorrow is going to be a better day."

"But if I sleep…"

"Let him try! Laugh at him when he'll fail!" chuckled Naruto.

Gaara closed his eyes slowly, and slept.

* * *

Orochimaru was swearing. The old man was getting on his nerves! But he was not the only one. The Sound Four would need a good lesson in logic!

After he had opened the two first gates, Sarutobei didn't have to worry about the wood attacking him. It was coming in slow motion. At the third Gate, the Sound Four could not hold the energy he was emitting at their current level. To avoid breaking the Kekkai, they went in the first level of the curse seal. That was the mistake! If they barely could contain the energy, imagine what damage it would deal to Konoha! On top of that, it keeps the chakra concentrated in the inside of the barrier. Namely: upon Orochimaru.

Once he reached the fifth Gate, Sarutobei finally attacked Orochimaru. He defended himself at the best of his abilities but the Kage was now a raging machine. The technique of the eight heavenly Gates doesn't give a simple boost of chakra. It bypasses all the safety limits imposed to the muscles from abusive use. The Hokage was way faster and stronger than he have ever been. If not for the many operations and kinjutsu he made on himself, Orochimaru would be long dead. Tired of the scenery, even if the trees didn't bother him anymore, Sarutobei threw Enma in his staff form at the First Hokage. How could the undead even hope to dodge this sudden attack? To be on the receiving end of an indestructible rod that got through two trees before getting to you have interesting results. Some may call it 'impalement'. The undead hero was no more.

Once the old men got to his seventh gate, the Sound Four went to their level two seal. Damn them! Orochimaru was using the wall of the kekkai to boost his jumps in attempt to dodge but even then, he ended up down on the ground, an oak on the back.

Sarutobei, a few paces from his enemy, knew it was almost over. He had seven Gates open now and he had to use the last one to keep the chakra flowing or he would not be able to deal the finishing blow. That's the problem with this technique. If you don't finish your opponent while you're in it, he will strike you back, helpless, when you'll came down from it. He took two hand blades he had in his back. Those had a very simple but interesting property. You could channel chakra through them. They were of a very strong metal, and the blade allowed to admit compressed chakra. The thing was: rare are the ones able to compress chakra. Or had the quantity to do so. At this state, Sarutobei had both. Anyway, he had no time to find Enma in all this mess.

"Eight Gate: the Death Gate!"

The old man was of a dark crimson that was not unlike the chakra of the Kyubi he had witnessed, so many years ago. He had to admit he was feeling murderous with so much energy channelling its way in him. The blades seem to have solid blue chakra around them. He flew toward the tree hiding one of his oldest students alive, floating on a wave of energy. But the Snake Sanin wasn't there anymore.

"Forbidden art: Raging Gale!"

Nobody in the history of Konoha ever saw such a maelstrom. The Sound Four included. Cracks began to appear in the barrier. Nothing could be seen from the outside exept an opaque grey wind full of rumbles. The Hokage finally spotted Orochimaru. He was spinning out of control, trying to grab something to steady himself. Sarutobei let out the jutsu, who came down as fast as he was summoned, but the Sanin didn't have the time to land back on the ravaged roof. He was hit so hard by the dashing form of the Hokage that he flew right threw the kekkai. Red shards were falling apart as the energy structure collapsed. The Sound Four reeled back from the backlash. They fell on their knees, no more curse seal activated, their chakra reserve almost empty.

The Hokage had no time left. As he approached the paled face traitor, he prepared a finishing blow that would finally end decades of regrets. Instead, he fell down, his hand stopping him short from kissing the tiles. He gripped his heart with the other hand as the chakra slowly left his body.

Orochimaru got his smile back seeing this. His head was the parody of a human one, false flesh ripped apart. He opened his mouth and got out, once again, his sword.

"This is it, old man! That last trick was impressive, I admit. I would never have though you would be able to pull off such a move. A forbidden one at that! But I can't let you die from that. It has to be by my hand. Remember that for all eternity in the underworld."

He slowly raised his weapon. As he was about to strike it down, he saw Sarutobi's face. Not because he raised his head. His face was so close to his now that the old man's nose was touching his! The Hokage took all the chakra that didn't have the time to leave his body from the opening of the Gate in this last strike. It had been lightning fast. So fast that he got inside Orochimaru's guard as if it wasn't there. He was grinning.

"Damn. I missed your head," he whispered, his breath tickling the Sanin's face.

Then the old man fell down for good. He hit the ground at the same time as Orochimaru's arms, cut at the shoulders. The scream was heard in all Konoha.

* * *

**Me****n... Sometime I read myself back after a while and I'm amazed. Probably one of my favourite chapters up to date. What about you?**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: "Naruto's missing?" /Slide a Leaf forehead protector under the desk/ "No, I haven't see him. I don't own him."**

* * *

The Uchiha brothers came back as heroes. Even from far away, everyone saw the demonic form of Shukaku above the trees. No one wanted to repeat a Kyubi accident. Haku, having played a major role in his fall, got the title of 'little Uchiha brothers' even if he was the oldest of the three. With his polite manners and his gentle soul, he had been quickly accepted. Now, having exhausted his chakra defending the village, he was truly part of it.

The celebration was quickly over when the news of the fall of the Third Hokage spread. After his combat, he was found on the wreck of the roof of the stadium. He had a painful smile on his lips. The medic nin that got to him first used a lightning reanimation jutsu on him and, against all hope, got his heart to start beating again. From them on, his body fought on borrowed energy to keep himself amongst the living.

The town council appointed the Chuunin team to the attribution of mission in a more permanent way. Rumors stated that the Frog Sanin would stand as the next Leader of Konoha but the hermit killed that one in the egg. He was far more useful to the village on the roads.

Naruto visited the Hokage on a daily basis, at the hospital. He was looking over the progression of the state of Gaara too, who asked Jiraiya to look at his seal. Hopefully, correcting an existing defective seal was far easier than creating one from scratch. Jiraiya was too much attached to his perverted life to sacrifice himself like the Fourth, thank you. He prepared a treatment consisting of a few new layers of seals applicated on a few days. Only he could have though of a set of seal that would link the mental state of a Bijuu to the one of his Jinchuriki. If Gaara was sleepy, so would the demon. He would no longer be in danger to be possessed in his sleep. But if he got angry… God help the poor soul in front of him.

After one of those sealing session, Jiraiya met Naruto in Sarutobei's hospital room. The old man laid on the bed, unmoving, with tubes coming in and out of his arms and nose. He did look better than a few days ago. Back then, his skin had an ashy-grey colour. Now, he was white, but with some very light hint of pink. Most of the time, the master and the student simply stood at the end of the bed, silent.

"I'll have to leave the village for a while. Gaara need rest, then he will be free to go. He's going to have to follow somebody to help him adjust to his new way of life. He won't be limited by dark thoughts. That could prove almost as disturbing to him. For my part, I've got to check out my spy network. There may be a mole. I had incomplete and corrupted information about this attack."

"Hai," Naruto said, his eyes never leaving the old man.

"Don't worry about me kid," he stated in a forced cheerful way. "I'll come back to you for more training. More then ever, we'll need strong ninja. You should be quite busy during my absence anyway."

"How so?"

"Now that would be telling!" answerd the hermit, raising a finger in the air.

They fell in silence once more. Sasuke came in, hands in his pockets. He stood alongside Naruto. They watched and waited as the serum was slowly running along a tube. The doctor came in, nodding to them. They nodded back. They were used to this after a week. The man in the white coat proceeded to an examination of his most important patient. He wrote down some notes on a board and then turned to face the two young men waiting for the results. He remembers well the look he received when he asked if they were related to him, since he could give medical information only to his family. There was no arguing the answer.

_"The whole village is his child_," the blond stated.

For once, he had better news to give.

"His state stabilized. He's going to heal," he simply said.

He got a twin breath of relief.

"I can't say in how much time, how he'll be when he wakes up, but he'll live. To be honest, one thing is certain."

"What?" asked Naruto, frowning.

"He'll never be a shinobi ever again, even in the case of a full recovery. His chakra system, while being well rod and in perfect control, was strained and burned during the fight. The only technique able to mess him like that is the Eight Heavenly Gates. For an unknown reason, his eight gates didn't fully open. Let say… about ninety-five percent. The five percent remaining manage the chakra necessary to keep him alive right now. There was chakra left in his eighth gate when he was found and the medical jutsu pushed it through the life gate. I can say that he's going to be alright because the last gate, alone, now manages to push the energy up to the second one. When it'll reach the first, he might regain consciousness."

The Brothers didn't even hope for that much. They bowed and thanked the doctor, relieved. They went out of the hospital, walking from the front door like anyone else. They were barely out before Sasuke could not contain the news any longer.

"Aniki, the council asked to see us about some kind of special mission."

"That's why you were late. Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"We were visiting the old men. They could wait."

Naruto simply smiled. Sasuke knew him so well… They took the Hokage Tower's direction at a modest pace. Once there, the Chuunin waiting for them sighed. A special mission from the council usually has the Genins running to get them.

"Well then. Since you finally grace us with your presence, I'll give you this special, unrated mission," the Chuunin began to explain.

"Unrated?" frowned Sasuke, having not heard that part when they informed him the first time.

"Yes. The degree of difficulty is unknown. It's going to start as a C-rank, since it's out of the village. You're going to have to fetch the Slug Sanin, Tsunade-hime. She's in an unknown location. You have to bring her here to become the next Hokage. If you succeed, you will both grade as Chuunins. Since you didn't finish the tournament or didn't have revealing enough matches, and since we're short in manpower after the Sound's attack, that's the condition for you two to grade. The real challenge is that this Sanin left Konoha several years ago and doesn't intend to come back."

Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other. They shared an evil grin. That was the _perfect_ opportunity. The Chuunin in charge mistook that for the joy of having a good shot at becoming Chuunin themselves. They left the building, Naruto whistling a weird tune. It was a funest hymn, but on a happy note. They heard a familiar call from someone nearing them. Sakura was running in their direction.

"Sorry guys! I could not get to the hospital in time today."

Naruto's face closed. He forgot about that. Sasuke took things in charge.

"Sakura. We received a mission."

"Great! When do we leave?" she asked, getting in the mood.

"_We_ don't leave. Naruto and I are the only one selected for this. If we succeed, we become Chuunins."

"Really? That's great for you! I know I went too ballistic to be chosen. Bah. Next time. About that mission, I'm sure they won't be bothered if a Genin come with you. I always follow your lead anyway."

"Well… it's not that… you see…" started Naruto.

"You can't come," finished Sasuke.

Sakura frowned. Her eyebrow almost touched.

"Say it loud then!" shouted the angry kunoichi. "You don't want me with you!"

"It's exactly that," stated Sasuke firmly.

The simple reply hurt Sakura on a deep level. After all she did to be accepted and recognized by those two… ingrates!

"Is that right Naruto? Look at me and tell me you don't want me on the team."

"It's not… on the team… On this mission only. Sorry Sakura-chan."

Naruto could not manage to look at her. The Uchiha duo passed a shaking and almost sobbing Sakura.

"You… IDIOTS!"

Then she ran all the way home. Crying.

* * *

"!"

"Quite an interesting injuries, Orochimaru-sama. The cut managed to take you on a deep level. We can't regrow them with any of the snakes-base technique we're used to work with. Sewing them back proved to be a failure. The flesh was already dead. This would not bother you on a normal day but your body seems to be rejecting you again."

"Interesting… indeed," breathed the Snake Sanin. "The old FOOL! And … you said he's not dead yet?"

"In a coma, but I dare say that even if he ever comes out, he'll never be a menace again."

"! ENOUGH! Send the Sound Four to the Uchiha brat! Make them useful for once! He's the best specimen. He has got to come from his own volition. Without the curse seal… Make the preparations."

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama. Are we still going to try and approach Tsunade-san for medical help?"

"Haaaa… No. She'd probably be able to do something if my arms were still attached… but we are further than her in regeneration technique. I want that boy here… And soon."

* * *

Sakura ran to her house. Tears were flowing freely from her face. She wasn't selfish or childish, was she? She just wanted to be treated like a member of the team and not some expendable weight!

She ran up the wall of her home to her room and got in through an opened window. She didn't want her mother to see her like that. She could come back bruised, battered and bloody, she would never mind and simply get the medic kit. But if she saw her crying, uninjured… heads would rolls. She was quite protective of her "Little Cherry Blossom.'

She muted her sobs face down in a pillow, sprawled on her bed. What did she do? Was she that weak? Didn't they like her at all? Has it all been faked?

She raised her head from her pillow and banged her head against the nearest wall. She saw a black flash and some stars dance before her eyes, but it did the trick. She stopped that train of thoughts dead. A feminine voice came from downstairs.

"Sakura? Are you there? What was that noise?"

"I tripped on the rug mom! I'm okay!"

"Are you hurt?"

"Just a bump! I'm okay!"

"If you say so…"

Sakura fell back down on her bed. What happened back there? She would have to analyse this as objectively as she could. Those two could be so twisted sometimes. But they would never fake friendship. They proved many times how eager they were to protect their friends. Then what?

-"You can't come on this mission Sakura."-

In _this_ mission. So it had to be the mission, not her.

-"It's not that we don't want to, but you can't come."-

So they didn't hate her! They simply didn't wanted her there… why? Naruto… He's the more expressive of those two. He looked sad and… away. He was looking away. He was hiding something. Something about the mission. What could they hide… Of course! She almost hit her head on the wall again so simple it was! It was all to protect her, because they thought the mission too much for her! A mission to become Chuunin, that dangerous? Those two alone? That was a low possibility.

Anyway, she would go. Whatever those two decided for her, she was her own person and decided she would be part of this. She prepared her mission backpack and stuffed a new change of clothes in it. Since she began training with those two, and with Haku lately, she saw the need for practical things. Her dress was in the way when she was fighting in the water. Anytime in a taijutsu spar in fact. She copied their style with the shorts, exept than her's were tighter, made of a dark pink dyed leather. She felt good in a simple swimsuit while training with Haku. A short red tight tank top completed the outfit. She planned to outgrow or damage her current one beyond repair soon enough. She had that set since she was out of ninja Academy after all.

She was ready to go now. But where? She had no chance whatsoever at following them. They would lose her in an instant. She would have to go ahead of them in an alternative path and wait for them. They would have no choice but to confront her. But how could she guess which direction they would take?

She had to, once again, face this with logic. As a Genin, she didn't have the clearance to access mission record. So… she would have to ask someone else who would know. Kakashi-sensei, as their team leader, must have known even before them. But he had no reason to tell her. If anything, he would say it's their mission to fill and would try to console her with special training. He would probably use the occasionto get even for the slight humiliation of having chosen Haku instead of him for her month training.

So…wait. Naruto was getting training from Jiraiya-sama. He would have to tell him, especially if he had a shot at becoming Chuunin thanks to his month of training. What did he say about him again? He was a seal master… ex-teammate of the missing nin Orochimaru… had quite an interest in the female population… and was the author of a series of books that Kakashi-sensei was very fond of. She didn't have much time. She had to gather more information about him before asking anything. She took the direction of the nearest bookstore.

* * *

Sakura was redder then the hem of her robe. She had asked the librarian for a book written by the Sanin saying that their master Jonin was always reading it. She said she wanted to buy him a present. The librarian looked at her in a funny way before leading her to the far wall of the store. A short section was dedicated to that particular… literature.

He quickly left her alone to browse. She opened one and started to read. Her cheek got pink. She took another one and her face went red. As she tried the next book in the line, her face got a radiating hue and you could almost feel the heat coming out of it. Now she understood why Naruto always took the direction of the hot springs to meet him. He was a pervert! And as such… an easy prey.

* * *

Jiraiya, as his habit pushed him, was in the hot spring, letting his mind devise romantic situations at the view of the wonders the woman body had to offer.

"…ya-sempaiiii. Jiraiya-sempai?"

The call dragged him half-way out of his reverie. No further, since the object of the call seemed to fit perfectly the mood of the place. A fresh, young woman was running with reserved manners, the cutest mini-skirt and tighter tank-top he saw in a long time. The girl stopped in front of him, wiping her brow, sporting a light blush from the short run. The mist permanently coating this area of Konoha gave her skin a nice shine too. She bowed low, letting her very long hair gracefully fall from her shoulder. He was still struck by the image of the Lolita in full bloom in front of him.

"Jiraiya–sama! I finally found you! At last! I though I would never find you in time!"

"Ha.. Haha! Hai! Hahaha! It's me, the Toad Senin, Jiraiya-sama! And you would be…?"

"My apology! It's so rude of me! I'm Haruno Sakura. Nice to meet you!" Sakura said, a sunny smile on her face.

She bowed again and the Senin was moved by the young beauty before him.

"And what business a cute young women like yourself have with this old man?" he asked, observing her.

"An old men? Where? I'm coming to see you!" asked Sakura looked left and right, confused.

Jiraiya though that if this was an act, it was _damn_ well played!

"Nevermind that. Why have you come to me?"

"Hai! I'm Naruto's teammate. He's going away on a mission with… Sasuke-kun…"

She looked down, the emotion too evident on her blushing face.

"But they won't take me with them!" she whinned, her hand balling up to her mouth, looking desperate. "They didn't even said where they were going! But I've gotta go with them! I have to…" she finished, stomping the ground oh so cutelly with one foot.

"Why is it so important?" he asked, trying to keep his mind to get to fast to the obvious conclusion.

"I… toward Sasuke-kun… I… have a gift for him. It would be easier to.. give it to him… in a mission."

She had a deep shade of pink on her cheek and was looking far away, her hand to her heart, a slight wind playing in her hair.

Jiraiya, on his part, had a hard time stopping his nosebleed.

"I…see. But I don't know if I should…"

"Jiraiya-sama! Please! I've got to go! Ask anything of me! I beg of you!" she finished, leaning toward him, a tear shinning in the corner of one eye.

A little trickle of blood found it's way out of the man's nostril. She already gave him a lot of 'research' material in exchange. He could always…. Naaaa! It'll never work! He's not in one of his book! But until now, she was just the right type…

"Well, if you really insist. But in exchange…" he said, rubbng his chin.

"Hai?"

"You'll have to tell me… exactly… how it went," he finished with a lear.

The young girl in front of him looked surprised and taken aback. She looked at her feet, a hand on a flaming cheek.

"It would be too embarrassing! Jiraiya-samaaaa! But…If it's what it takes to make it possible… I guess I could tell you. A little."

"Girl."

"Hai?"

"You're going to be a very dangerous kunoichi when you'll be older."

"Nani?"

"It's okay. Drop the act. It was perfectly executed down to the smallest things. Nothing to say. I just wrote too much of this not to recognize it."

Sakura's posture changed instantly. Her eyes were no longer watery but of steel. She stood straight, arm by her side, meeting his stare with a steady resolution.

"So, who are you really?" he asked.

"Haruno Sakura. I'm Naruto's and Sasuke's teammate. They are going on a mission that is supposed to grant them the rank of Chuunin if they succeed," she said, her voice as serious as her face.

"Hai. They have to fetch the Sanin Tsunade-hime and convince her to become the fifth Hokage."

"You're telling me this too easily," Sakura said, looking suspicious.

"I haven't told you where I told them to go look first yet," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"You're correct."

"So they ruled you out of this one. It is strange since Naruto talk only good thing about you. I see he didn't exaggerated any."

This time, the embarrassement wasn't faked. But she kept her eyes on him.

"It intrigues me," Jiraiya said, looking up. "You should be allowed to go."

"They are protecting me from something dangerous. I'm sure of it," she said with confidence.

"You may be right. I'm going to talk to your sensei. You have a mission of your own. You will trail them… nah. Sorry. That's above your level, no offence."

"None taken. If I had though it possible, I would not be talking to you right now."

"Hum. So you want to take the lead and wait for them on the way."

"Hai."

"They'll begin start at the second village taking the North-North-West path from the North gate, five days travel from here."

"Town of Jabun. I know the place. Principally a resting place for travellers with food, girls and gambling."

The casual way she talked about this gave Jiraiya a good measure of her intelligence and maturity. She was the perfect complement for that team.

"It's exact. Tsunade-hime is also known as 'The Legendary Sucker' for her poor luck at gambling. If you can't convince them to join the mission, you'll have an easier time following them by trying Game Houses."

"Thank you Jiraiya-sama," she said, bowing.

The girl turned to go.

"Before you go, Sakura-chan…"

"Hai?"

"If you find the time to give Sasuke his present, will you still tell me about it?"

Sakura balled her fists tight.

"Naruto hinted right on this one… Pervert!"

Jiraiya laughed out loud. That was more like it.

* * *

The Toad Sanin used his time in Konoha to take news from his local contact and to write messages that are possible to send only from the Hokage's office. Why having spies in his own village? Easy. Konoha wasn't above intern struggle caused by enemy spies. He had to find those and convince them how good for their health being a double agent can be… and to dispose of his spies that became double agents.

He helped the council for some Hokage related business but kept his nose out of it most of the time, not wanting them to rely on him on every occasions. They were good to lead things in the shadows but needed a strong figure to take the blows that came with the decisions making. Leading a village paint a target in your back: just ask the Third.

A few weeks later, a major event took place. It began in the street by a simple gathering, before transforming in a town sized party. The news spread quite fast all around the village: Konoha's new Hokage had arrived escorted by Team Seven.

Jiraiya went down from his personal hidden office in the Hokage tower to greet his former teammate. She was walking, a sour look on her face, but still waving left and right to the crowd. Jiraiya knew her enough to tell how happy she was to be back.

"Welcome back, Tsunade. Your office is waiting for you," bowed Jiraiya mockingly.

"What is it, Toad? The seat's too big for you?" she replied sarcastically.

"I see your age didn't slow down your wits, nor your tongue. I could not… fill… the seat as much as you."

It wasn't twenty minutes the new Hokage walked in Konoha she had to protect the village. It was what she did, in her own mind, when she launched a punch that sent Jiraiya through the wall of the nearest building. She told her escort to wait while she 'finishes this off'.

"Don't damage him too much, Tsunade-sama! I need him for my training!" shouted Naruto.

"You'll pick what will be left!" countered Tsunade.

The new Hokage towered over the poor hermit, who was presently rubbing his head. His eyes filled with worry when he saw her over him. Usually, she was done with one hit. Last time she did more…

She took him by the collar and heaved him on his feet.

"Keep that expression of terror, I like it. I've got something important to talk about."

Seriousness and understanding flashed on his features before continuing his scared persona. With the look she had on her face, he had enough inspiration.

"Those two you sent to fetch me… they smelled of blood."

Jiraiya, so shook he was by the news, lowered his defensive posture.

"No sense in hiding then," he countered. "We'll have to take measures. I'm already a step ahead to know what happened."

"The girl?"

"Hai."

"Good chance to make her talk. I tried. She's loyal to those two. She was practically in a state of shock when they found me. They told me they ran into… people… and they had to dispose of them. They said it was her first kill. I trapped her in saying that. While it was not her that killed, it wasn't the first time she faced death."

"I'll take care of this. Immediately. It's still good to see you back. We'll have to get a drink tonight, in old time's memories."

"Not _that_ old!" she growled, letting him go.

"Hai, hai!"

He looked at her retreating back to the crowd. They had to be reassured. They wanted to see her in her office, looking over them from the balcony. It was like… a tradition. But he was worried. What could those two Brothers say to his old teammate to make her come back?

He had to put this aside for now. He had more urgent things to find out. Team Seven was presently shaking hands. Kakashi was congratulating them for the Brother's new grade that the Hokage would grant them as soon as she would be installed in her office. The Toad Senin stopped in front of them, scratching his head. He turned toward Kakashi.

"I'll have to borrow your team, Kakashi-san," he sighed.

"Which one?"

"The whole bunch. Hokage's order," he finished seriously.

"Oh! Well then, behave Team! She's a serious one, believe me!" scolded Kakashi.

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei! See ya!" Naruto said, hiding well his nervosity. He knew this didn't bode well.

Team Seven followed the Sanin in an old abandoned building, far from the partying villagers. Once inside, he turned around and looked at them. Sakura was looking away. Sasuke and Naruto were dead serious, as if they knew what would happen. No sense in delaying then.

"Ninja Arts: Toad mouth Enclosure."

The seal work was too quick and fluid to hope to be stopped. After all, he _is_ a Sanin. The floor, ceiling and walls coated themselves with a pinkish fleshy material and trapped them all, as the jutsu hinted, in the interior-like of a stomach.

Naruto's and Sasuke's feet were glued to the floor and were already sinking passed their ankles. It stopped there, and neither of them tried to escape. They seemed ready to face the music, while Sakura was very close to panic.

"Sakura-san. I hope you realize the situation you are all in. Depending on what they did between the time they left Konoha and the moment they found and got Tsunade-hime back, they might be court-martialled and send to shinobi prison. I can't trust anything they'll tell me at this point. You, obviously, have been witness of it, at the very least. You'll have to tell me, in details, what happened, or else I could be forced to execute the traitor's fate on those two right here, right now. You know what this mean?"

Sakura shakily nodded her head.

"You don't want to see them dead, burned by gastric acid before going to prison yourself, do you?" Jiraiya made sure to precise.

She shook her head vigorously.

"Then I suggest you to start talking now."

Sakura took a few inspiration and swallowed her saliva hard.

"Well…" she said, beginning the tale of her last two weeks.

* * *

Sakura pushed her leg to the maximum. She had to be far enough from Konoha that they would not simply brush her off. She could not take the same route they might obviously take or they would inevitably see her tracks and take another road. She had to make a long detour to get where they'll be after a few hours travel, at top speed. In a mission, those two rarely walked if they could avoid it.

It was already sundown. She was already a long way from the village but she was better to be ready for them before setting up camp. She ran under the last ray of the sun. She continued under the slight light of the moon. Midnight was still far away when she reached the crossroad leading to different towns. She rested herself by walking back a few minutes in the direction of Konoha. There. She found a tree of a nice height where she could sleep in and see them coming from far enough.

She ate lightly so not to sleep too deeply and drank enough it would help her wake with the sun. She let herself fall asleep, looking at the starsky far from the lights of civilisation.

Sakura woke up as the sun was coming through the leaves. She refreshed herself with haste and set her watch on top of her chosen tree. Those two were used to leave at sunrise so to watch it in the first hours of travel. She always found that terribly romantic. Whatever strategic reason they gave her, she never missed their peaceful look as they watch the oldest nature's wonder.

Sunrise was now two hour away. If she compared the speed she saw Naruto use in his match against Neji, they should be here in about… hey! They were already coming! Sakura could not play it cool by calling them tauntingly or to wait for them to see her. At that speed, they could run in front of her, never noticing. Even if they had seen her, they would probably ignored her.

She jumped down from her branch, landing right in front of them. By the time she straighten up and looked in front of her, they were blocking both ways of the road. Sasuke was behind her while Naruto was standing in front of her, a kunai drawn. Yep. They had all their weights off, that's for sure. That's worrying. She would need to get hers off too.

"What are you doing here?" asked Sasuke in her back.

Sakura closed her eyes a moment. When she opened them again, they were filled with resolve.

"I'm going on a mission with you. I have the approuval of the council. I wonder how petulant they would find you to refuse allowed help on a special, unranked mission? We are a team. I won't allow you to leave me behind. I'm not a liability. I'm no deadweight. I can follow your lead, so I _will_ be part of this mission, under your orders. Tell me what to do. Exept for leaving, I'll obey."

Naruto took his head in his hands and sighed miserably. Sasuke went at his side. He was laughing softly. His face showed he came to a decision.

"She'll come," he announced darkly.

Naruto's eyes opened wide behind his hands. He turned to look at his brother.

"You're kidding, right?"

"She wants to follow our path that bad. We'll include her in."

Naruto was speechless. He looked at Sakura, dishearten. His eyes seemed moist. Sakura could not beleive he was almost crying on her behalf. Naruto knew she would face hard trials that they had years to anticipate and come to term with. He shook his head. This was her decision. Sasuke was right. If she decided to do this, knowingly or not, he had no right to refuse. But he would not go easy on her either. Not this time.

"Alright. We're going on a side mission, Sakura," he announced.

"Ok. You're the Chuunins of this mission." she acknowledge, standing straight.

"No, we're not," countered Sasuke.

Sakura looked disbelievingly as he took off his forehead protector, his pride as a Konoha ninja. Naruto did the same. They looked… different without it. The usual serious look on their face became a lot more dangerous. She wasn't dumb. Her brain followed the logical path that this leaded to.

"This… is not a mission. That's personal, isn't it?"

Sasuke stood right in front of her. For once, it was not a shy unease she felt so close to him. It was downright intimidating.

"You can't say a thing about this. Not a soul. It's not only our trust you're gambling here, understand?"

Sakura was in a pinch. What could she do? It came down with a single choice in her head. She chose her path. She knew, in a way, she would never regret it.

"Jiraiya sent me to look after you two and report anything suspicious. That's how I knew you would be coming this way."

Naruto jumped. Sasuke sighed. They looked at each other. Naruto raised his shoulders dismissingly.

"Okay then. That's what you'll do, when the time come. The second thing is: you'll do anything and everything we ask of you. Whatever it is, whatever you agree or not."

"Right."

"WHAT-EVER we ask."

Sakura jumped back at the rare ferocity Sasuke employed. Exept for intense training, he never show that kind of face.

"F-fine. Whatever you ask."

Sasuke turned back and took the direction of the crossroad. Naruto walked up to her side.

"Take off your weight. All of 'em," he told her.

" 'Kay."

"And Sakura?"

"Hai?"

"Welcome in the team," he greeted her with a small, sad smile.

* * *

They took the opposite direction of where they should be heading. They travelled for days at the time, most of them running. They rested in well hidden spot that they seemed familiar with. This must be a road they followed many times in the past. On the ninth day, they reached a deserted patch of land, surrounded by much greener field. Part of it was soaked in water, the other was as dry as sand. Must be one of nature's whim.

They followed an unseen path to a rocky formation. Huge mountains dressed themselves in the horizon. The boulder they now stood before was the size of a small mountain itself that had been dragged there in time immemorial, or simply fell from the sky. There was several other smaller rocks, the size of small houses, surrounding the 'mother rock'.

Sasuke walked toward one but then Sakura's eyes played a trick on her. He was walking in front of it, but passed where it was supposed to be! As if he walked _in_ it, without entering the rock! Then Sasuke turned left and she understood. It was an optical illusion! Nothing could really detect this since no chakra was involved. There was an entrance there, hidden in plain sight.

Naruto followed and Sakura tentatively got through what her brain told her was a solid wall. The inside got lit by a match that lent it's flame to a candle. Three more suffice to lit the whole room. There was two straws beds, a few old rusty kunaïs and a lot of dust. The wind must be coming in rather easily. Sasuke made a few hand seals and put his hand on the end of the far wall.

"Dehydration no jutsu."

The portion of wall targeted turned to sand.

"What did you do?" asked Sakura, curious.

"It's a cache hidden by a camouflage rock made of sand, water, and a little cement. Without water, it turns back to sand and cement powder," explained Sasuke.

Naruto helped him get a few very thick books protected by hermetic plastic bags out of the sand. Sakura saw that kind of book before. But where? As Naruto got three others from his and Sasuke's backpack, a chill ran down her spine. They had gotten her one of these lately, to stock her own reserve of explosive notes. Theirs seemed full. The sheer quantity of explosive frightenned her. What did they intend to do, blow up a whole town?

Naruto got an outfit out of his bag. Now that was different. It was made of lightning design all over and was quite… flashy. He put gel in his hair to spike them up in the air solid. Sasuke did the same. He had gotten himself out a similar outfit but with deep red meteors showers drawn on them. _That_ was a change! Sasuke wearing something different than black, blue or a little red fan! Naruto's new light vest had a white tiger roaring and Sasuke's had a ferocious gorilla showing teeth. That breathed eccentricity and showing off.

"We are now Genin from Earth country. You got something else to wear in your bag? What you wear isn't flashy enough."

"Flashy?"

"Hidden Rock's Genin are, mostly, like that. They are allies of the Cloud village in Lightning country."

Sakura had no idea they were anywhere close to the Hidden Cloud. It seems to be their destination. While she was getting out her new outfit, that she would be putting to use sooner than she expected, she though things through. What was their stance with the Cloud village? Hostile of course. Since the time… they asked for the death… of Naruto's father.

Oh shit.

* * *

**I was about to end this chapter when Sakura began to tell the story. But I found that a Cliff-hanger here is WAYYYY worst! Lol! See ya next week!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: If we can't own Naruto, they should at least put him on location.**

* * *

Naruto was laughing loudly, an arm around Sakura's shoulder. Anybody knowing her would have thought she would rather have Sasuke's arm there. They could not be more wrong, since Sasuke's arm was around her waist.

They looked the epitome of coolness. Sasuke was giving the performance of his life. He was grinning non-stop and even laughed at Naruto's comment on the girls they passed, always putting them down in favor of Sakura. Of course, she was not Sakura. She was Lily. Naruto was Sayo and Sasuke, Pyro.

They entered the Village Hidden in the Cloud, on the top of a chain of mountains, claiming to be Rock's Genins taking a vacation. They strolled around all day long. Sakura was smart. She knew it was a recon mission. They looked around, printing maps in their brains. The village, accommodated for frequent rain, had buildings with joining roofs. Many evacuation drains were dispersed in the streets, all of them going downhill, following the natural water paths. They took a wide turn before ending in a classier surrounding. They passed gates that were not connected to the other roofs. That meant a lot. They were in a clan domain, the commercial part open to the public. The domain occupied the flattenned top of one of the mountains by itself and had its own walls.

They went from one stand to an other, in a weapon shop, in restaurants… never staying at the same place more then fifteen minutes. They went to a temple shrine and gave some money for a prayer and then resumed their activities. They spent the day at it. Then, they went at an Inn and took one room. The Innkeeper looked at them suspiciously. After all, two guys taking one room with a lone girl…

The next day was spent in games. Arcades, pachinko, game houses or cinema: they were like at a festival. The day came to an end and they got back on the roads, taking the Earth country's path before the setting sun. They walked a few hours. As the sun disappeared behind the horizon, they stopped. They made sure they were alone before changing in plain road. The boys were gallant enough to keep her in their back while she put on her old robe. She felt it was the last time she would ever wear it. The boys used some kind of odorless solvant in their hair to dissolve the gel.

They turned back and, in stealth mode, got back toward their hiding place. Once there, they put the nine empty books back in their cache, mixed the sand back with the cement powder and some water. They left after spreading enough dust over it to imitate the rest of the cavern wall and floor pattern. They pushed their legs to a good speed, reaching the Cloud village in the dead of the night. They would raid an enemy village, clearly outnumbered. They spent the last two days in recon. They knew the places to hide, the patrols paths and, more importantly, where they would have to kill.

As they neared the wall, Naruto absently thought they would need to tell the new Hokage to regularly change the guard's positions from day to night shift, and to use Kage Bushins.

Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke ran to a portion of a wall far from any guard. It was impossible to pass there. It was a trap. There was a guard on the other side checking on the high wall in case of intrusion. The only place where they were no such guards was on current patrolling spot, on the high wall. So they silently ran, so close to the wall sometime their cheeks touched it, until they spotted where a guard would be standing, above them. Then they went at full speed, not caring for stealth.

The guard looked down for the origin of a stepping noise right as Sasuke, propelled by a power jump helped by Naruto's and Sakura's joined hand, rose at his level. He only had the time to see him as the short sword beheaded him. The kind of sword lightning country's shinobi used. The one he bought in that clan's store about two days ago. The man fell over the edge to the ground below. Sasuke landed on a crouch on the patrol path, on top of the wall. A second guard, to his right, was about to yell an alert when the end of a kunai went out of his mouth. He fell down on his knees, then flat on the ground. Naruto wiped his kunai clean on the dead body's vest as he past it.

Sakura was behind him, trying to get her composure. They went from roof to roof, getting down in back alleys only to jump back on the roof later. It was no sense in worrying about guards now. Either they were where they located them in the day time, and on their night exploration, or they would have to kill them.

The path they calculated during the recon was optimal in speed and stealth. They neared the gates guarding the Itsuka clan, the responsible for Hyuga Hizashi's death, so many years ago.

Sasuke and Naruto joined hands and made one-handed, complementary seals. They vanished in a blur. Sakura could not see them, but they told her this version of their earth transportation jutsu was quicker and quieter. They must be right as she never heard the death of the next guard.

Sakura waited five seconds, as told, and ran to the wall, before the closed gate. She jumped high, took the wall for support by sticking to it with chakra and went over it. She almost landed on the dead guard. Instead, she stepped in the pool of blood he was gathering around him. Sakura quietly swore. She would leave traces! A shiver went up her back, thinking that maybe hanging out with the Uchiha Brothers made her a little too used to death and blood. She stepped on the guard and wiped her feet on him. When she looked up, she saw Naruto and Sasuke smirking.

"You should try to make less of a mess behind you, damnit!" she whispered harshly.

Their smile only grew wider.

"What?"

"Nothing" answered Sasuke, "We just like the sight of you wiping the blood off your feet on his back like a rug."

Yep, that was a vengeance alright.

They jumped once again from roof to roof, the guards being mostly at the entrance and at the peripheral of the fence surrounding the clan. If they met any others at this point, it would be because they're searching for them. They knew they had little time before the first bodies would be found, if they weren't already. They landed lightly on a roof before jumping on the ground.

They needed to enter quietly. As expected, the doors and windows were closed. There was no need to check them to know they were locked. Sasuke made hand seals and put his hand before his mouth, as if casting his favourite technique. Sakura, having never seen that version before, thought he wanted to blow the wall in with a fireball… shot in the wrong direction.

"Katon: Fireblade!" Sasuke whispered.

Sasuke blew some fire that gathered before him. He quickly stopped, concentrating chakra in his hand and took the barely formed circular blade of fire. He started to make it spin in his holding hand, squeezing it to thinner the fire saw. It was about eighteen inches in diameter and the fire was more of a pale yellow color than it's previous flaming red.

"Damn. Still too big. I'll have to work on this."

He didn't wait for the light of his jutsu to be noticed. He made four quick strikes and dispelled the jutsu. A new entrance was made, indicated only by four very thin lines in the wall. The three of them glued their hands on the newly removable portion of the wall and put it slowly on the ground. They went inside and started the search for the master bedroom. They didn't have too hard of a time to find it. The walls were thick with useless decorations the closer you got to it.

The targeted man inside was a ninja. They managed an unnoticed entrance. But no matter how quiet they were, a man of his skill would detect something entering his bedroom, even asleep. They had to do this the old fashion way. Sakura lightly grabbed the handle to the sliding door. In one swift and wide move, she opened it. Sasuke and Naruto went in with a leap, jumping on the man that had jerked awake. It was already way too late for him. The kunai he held in a meagre defence shook in his hand, before falling back on his pillow, under which it was previously hidden. He was staying up only by the sword piercing his throat, severing completely the air pipe, stopping any sound to be made, and by the one in his heart that was currently twisting, giving him the maximum of pain before his eyes lost the spark of life.

So fast was the execution, his wife at his side barely stirred. They led his slow fall to the ground, on the side of his bed. They wiped their sword on him and walked out of the room.

"Young master, is that you?"

Sakura didn't even think twice before throwing the kunai. It struck the old woman right between the eyes. As she started to fall, Sakura silently ran to catch her. Sasuke and Naruto made sure the widow of the Cloud's ninja was still asleep. Fortunately for her, she was.

Sakura still held the body in her arms. The harsh reality dawned on her, in this stranger's house, the body of a dead nurse in her arm. She was a ninja. That's what her life would be. Sometimes, she would have to commit acts as this one. Simple survival riding a thin line of morality that would hold her resolve and her beliefs. Her loyalty toward her village and her teammates. She would kill, as a ninja. She would die as one too. She would live through this. Sakura looked one last time at the woman and decided right there to keep her humanity. She would kill. She would not regret to kill. She would regret the dead. She let a tear drop, lifted the woman and hid her in a broom closet.

The boys were looking at her all the while.

"Let's go guys. You still have a lot of people on your list if I'm not mistaken," she whispered.

They nodded. The group got out the house by their personal entrance and put the portion of wall back in place. They hastily smother it with some sand, not caring for anyone to find it later. They went to a second house, where pretty much the same sequence was repeated. Then a third house. A forth. They killed another married man, a lonely woman, a playboy without waking his 'honey' of the night in his arms. Poison, kunaïs and swords were put to good use. By the fifth house, Sasuke found a way to roll the fire directly in his lightly glowing blue hand at the size he wanted, reducing the lighting to a minimum.

"How many more?" Sakura asked, shaking a bit.

"All night long if they never notice us," stated Naruto.

They had a long list of people responsible. The elders of the clan, the family of the Cloud ninja that tried to kidnap Hinata when she was young and all the ninja present during that night, making a diversion at the festivities. They only scratched the surface until now.

At the sixth house, things got complicated. As they entered the medium-sized house, a messenger at the other end of it knocked on the door.

"Erano-sama! Erano-sama! Intruders infiltrated the village! Come quickly! Council member Turino has been killed!"

"Shut up, you idiot! You want to tell the whole neighbourhood? Can't you wait for me to open the door?"

"Gomen, Erano-sama. I was worried."

"Don't mix your personal feeling with your duty… Aito-chan."

Sasuke and Naruto made disgusted faces on each side of a doorway inside. Sakura almost laughed out loud. Some more disgusting noises were heard before the messenger left. The Erano guy hastily walked to his room. When he got out, fully dressed, he was cleanly beheaded at the level of his eyes and mouth by two swords. A small shower of blood hit the sides of the wall. The different parts of the body made some noise when they fell down but there was no one else than his executioner to hear it.

"What now guys?" asked Sakura. "We can't run around killing with the whole village looking for us?"

"Of course not," stated Naruto, smiling. "That would be way too provoking now, would it?"

"We're keeping that for tomorrow," replied Sasuke seriously.

As she followed them outside, Sakura once again asked herself what she had gotten herself into.

* * *

The next day, at the local civilian prison of the Cloud village, the jailors were talking about the recent troubles.

"Look like the 'jumpers' got their hands full last night."

"Looks like it. They better not get their problems on us, normal folks."

"I'm still saying they all have something inhuman…"

A rustling noise came from one of the cell followed by some gurgling noises.

"What? You got something to say, scumbag?" asked one of the jailors, looking in the cell.

"Errrr… no. For once, I agree. Don't get used to it."

The prisoner was sitting on his bunk, looking like he just woke up.

"If I want an advice from scum like you, I'll tell you what it is. Shut up now."

Sakura didn't know how to react. How was that prisoner behaving again? When he was still alive, that is... What kind of crime did he commit?

"What, you don't like me? What did I ever do to you? I'm an innocent victim!" she asked, tauntingly.

"Tell that to the kid you raped and killed. He may have become one of those fucking 'jumpers' who flood us with enemy and problems, but he was still just a kid. Don't worry. In two days time, you won't have to live with the regrets that are obviously choking you."

Suddenly, Sakura wanted to unbury the dead corpse to give him a beating. His death had been way too quick. Instead, she snorted to her jailor and lied down on her bunk, her back to him. She felt uncomfortable under the Henge of such a bad person. Sasuke and Naruto didn't lose a second of it. They too, had taken places of other prisoners. They would rest well all day long right there, in a normal prison, while the rest of the town searched for them. Naruto found Sasuke's idea hilarious.

They ate what they gave them, grumbling, insulting their jailors when they didn't sleep. The two jailors got replaced during the day. The two new guards seemed to have the same view about the 'jumpers' of demonic ascendance. They talked about the agitation and the increased number of shinobi sentry posted all around town. Particularly in the Itsuka sector. This night would be fun.

* * *

Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura stretched. They were freed of their cells by a guard. A simple change of Henge sufficed to convince him that the prisoners were gone and trapped the other jailor in their own cell. They combined the illusion with a genjutsu to put the other guard asleep.

"So, guys. How do we attack a fortified clan?" asked Sakura.

"We ram into it."

"Ok, Naruto. I know you're strong. So is Sasuke. I can defend myself. But this…"

"You're wrong, Sakura," interrupted Sasuke. "You don't know how strong we are yet. But you're right. We can't just face them all. Even if we fought them in a line, we would tire after the first twenty or thirty ones."

"We've got to separate them, divide them and then attack. You remember what we did the two firsts day we spent here?"

"Yeah… But even then… Damn! Just tell me what to do."

"Do that and it'll be just fine," agreed Naruto.

They departed from the jail and took the commoner's road to the Itsuka clan's mansion. The clan that would die tonight.

They walked amongst the citizens retreating to the safety of their homes. They were hidden in plain sight. As they got in front of the gates, Sasuke made a discreet seal in his back.

"Group one, two three: activate."

At the other end of the estate, explosive tags detonated. As expected, most of the guards on duty hurried to see what happened, thinking the intruders engaged other ninja on guards. The ones that were left on this side were few and looking in the direction of the blast. The civilians had long evacuated the roads and the Leaf trio was silently standing at the base of the wall blocking the way inside. They had to enter quickly or the village's guards would find them there when they would come to help.

One of the sentinel shinobi walked right over their heads. Naruto whistle briefly and threw a kunai straight up in the air at the same time, his back to the wall. The ninja on guard bent his head over the edge of the tall wall to find the cause of the noise only to catch a knife with his forehead. He fell down silently, right in Naruto's and Sasuke's expecting arms. They let the body hit the floor before climbing up the wall, cockroach style.

"Sakura. Get to the ninja over there and tell him someone here killed a guard."

The kunoichi acknowledged and ran in her most girlish manner, not questioning Sasuke's method.

"SIIIIR! It's terrible!"

She put her hand on her knees, panting, before looking at the guard she was in front of with wet eyes.

"A ninja is dead over there! There is so much blood! It's horrible! You've got to do something!"

The man stop trying to see past the hem of her robe at the serious news. He told her to follow him as best as she could. Sakura ran behind him, letting him distance her easily while she made as much noise as she could. That was actually hard, so used they were not to let out a sound. Sasuke was on he wall too now, looking at the corpse still at the base of it. The Itsuka guard drew a short sword almost identical to the one Sasuke bought two days ago. That man had no originality. That's probably why he looked so much like a nameless guard.

"Did you do this?"

"Yeah."

The guard, fuming, got a string of kunaï and shuriken in his other hand and began to spin it with a movement that could hurt the eye if you looked at it too long. Sasuke was midly interested now. Too bad.

"What are your last words, kiddo?"

"You're an idiot."

The guard blew up from the notes Sakura patched in his back. Sasuke made sure not to be in the way of the weird weapon link as it flew from its blowing master. Then he drove his own sword in the guy's head, just to be sure.

"Good work, Sakura."

"Thanks. Let's keep the congratulation for when we'll be far and done with this."

"Humf. Let's go. Naruto must have dispatched his guard already."

Naruto didn't get why genjutsu specialists use such surreal illusions. It takes, obviously, more chakra, skill and experience to convince the human mind that a meteor shower was heading your way then to make it see a step where there is none. A step you carefully removed before.

The guard tripped as he ran down the stairs from the wall. Naruto was there to welcome him with a chakra-charged fist. He missed the hit in the original sense the technique was meant very badly. The theory was to infuse the targeted body with disrupting chakra, like with the Hyuga's Gentle Fist. Only it would use an insane quantity of chakra compared to it since it's not accurate at all, counting on the wider area touched to take on a tenketsu point. Effective disrupting chakra need to be pinpoint in the chakra pathway of the body or, more effectively, a tenketsu. The first time he used it on Orochimaru, he didn't realize that it didn't work, his hit having sent the missing nin airborn. This time, he felt the true effect of his attack.

Naruto's fist buried deep in his adversary's chest, breaking many ribs. Those, in turn, pierced the Cloud nin's lungs, letting him agonize with a weezing sound. As the body hit the pavement, Naruto looked at his still closed fist with interest, possibilities overflowing his mind.

"Cool!"

He calmly walked to the meeting point. He took that moment to make a single hand seal.

"Group four, five, six: activate."

More explosions could be heard in the compound. Naruto grinned even wider.

"Aniki!" called softly Sasuke who seemed to walk from thin air, "You look like you swallowed the Cheshire cat whole. What got you so happy?"

"He-he. I-got-a-new-teeeeechnique!" did he said in a sing-song voice.

"Jackass."

"I love you too, bro."

Both of them turned their head toward the site of the second explosion, a serious expression on their face. Naruto signalled Sakura to follow has they hid in the nearest alley. It was a good choice since that one wasn't a dead end. Sasuke turned toward Sakura and mouthed his order, no sound escaping his lips.

"Pass the corner, send them Hell for three seconds, come back here and run toward the other end of the alley."

Sakura didn't waste a moment. She started to run and turned the corner. She skidded to a halt in front of eight ninja or so. To last three seconds seemed to be quite a challenge right now.

Second one: Sakura threw a flurry of sticking seals widely around her. A few ninja got stuck with them. She had the initiative.

Second two: a barrage of lightning bolts came her way. She managed to esacape some but got hit by those instant-like jutsu quite a few times. Hopefully that they didn't have the time to put much chakra behind them since they were _painfull_ as _hell_!

Second three: Sakura's explosive notes that were not removed in time exploded, taking out two ninja from the fight. She took that distraction to boost jump near the alley and almost crawl in.

She mustered all her strength and ran toward the back. Naruto and Sasuke were nowhere to be seen. Not reassuring, but good. If she would have seen them, their enemies would have too. The bait worked well as all six ninjas followed her in the alley. She jumped over a dumpster and saw Sasuke behind it. He was holding his hands ready in a seal, eyes closed, gathering energy.

Sakura's run was halted as she heard her pursuer howls, screams that had nothing to do with the facts they were gaining on her. Fire just caught them from behind. They could not avoid it down or side to side because of the narrow alley they were in. The fire, taking the form of a roaring dragon, forced them up the alley only to met Sasuke's own fire dragon that he unleashed after coming out of from behind the trash container. The six ninja were slammed against each other as the two fire dragons exchange a furious death kiss. The combined flames changed from it's raging red to a pale yellow at the junction, very much like Sasuke's miniature saw of concentrated fire. They held the jutsu for a whole eight seconds. They stopped as the death screams died down. They had effectively been incinerated. The trio left the alley that now fumed and smell of burned flesh.

Cloud ninja were reputed to jump high and spot their adversary from above. Instead of jumping higher, the young team opted to shoot them down in the sky. A Kawamiri cannot be performed too far from the ground where no replacement can be found, or without a support of some sort. As they met one, they used the content of several water barrels to cast a water dragon. The ninja answered the rising, roaring mass of water with a rain of clashing thunderbolt, trying to dispel the jutsu by hitting the user. Unfortunately for him, Sasuke's control of the technique was very good. The beast twisted widely around, catching the nearest electric strikes. The poor guy got slammed by a strong, electrically charged water dragon. He fell to the ground, his heart having stopped beating from the shock.

They met two others who worked in team, circling them mercilessly. They could send bolt of incredible power one to the other, always using the same energy until it hit something. They even could rebound it to each other forcing them to dodge… at lightning speed, literally. Naruto got hit bad in a flashing show. As the light died down, his two team-mates ran to him, shouting his name. The electric duo targeted them both and unleashed a thundering finishing blow. As the sparks fell on the ground, three smoking bodies laid on each others. They walked to them but one of the two Cloud ninja noticed that the falling spark passed through the bodies as they fell to the earth. He used the dispelling technique and shouted to his partner to get back.

It was too late though. An explosion occurred where the dispelled bodies were lying a moment ago. His partner was engulfed in flames and himself was pushed back a little by the air pressure of the blast. He landed hard on the ground. He got back up, tears in the eyes at the lost of his comrade, only to be stuck by an attack of shuriken coming from three directions.

The deadly trio made their way through the clan, killing them one by one, dispersing their pursuers around by activating more notes that where hidden during the two first days. Sometime, they met larger groups of searching shinobi and hid, only to silently take out the last of the line as they had passed them. Before an hour had passed, the whole clan looked like a war zone. Bodies were spread all around the place, in every streets. Untended fires were consuming the two third of the clan's houses. The woman and children had ran out of their house after the fourth explosion. They hurried away from the carnage, away from the clan. The village's guards had a lot to do to evacuate the non-fighting crowd, checking that none of them were intruders trying to escape the village. They put the clan in quarantine, circling it without entering. They had sent an Anbu team already and had no news of them. They would not spent anymore life for that wretched, useless clan anyway.

Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were currently herding the last of the clan's ninjas toward the central point of the domain. The geographical center point wasn't a building or a public place. It was a simple alley, very busy in the daytime. It was large enough to let pass a medium-sized crowd but no marketplace would have fit there. About thirty ninja entered it, chasing shadows. It was time to weed the garden. Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura executed seals and looked like they were chanting sutras so many were the groups of explosives involved. The detonation could have been felt even out of the village. It levelled the street like a volcanic explosion. Many notes were burrowed in the ground, on the three walls seeing the street, on every building on each sides and on their roof. There were even some in the paper lanterns hanging across the street. Smoke and debris flew up and fell back like a gravel rain on the Cloud's village rooftop.

Strangely, as curious as they were, none of the village's guards went to see what happened at the detonation point. They had orders not to go after all. Thanks gods they had orders.

The Uchiha Brothers knew they were not invincible. The village of the Leaf produced effective, strong, but peaceful ninjas. Of course, both of them were all but peaceful. Sakura was on the right track to become aggressive enough too. Meaning that Leaf's usual Chuunin were stronger than a Cloud's usual Chuunins. To top that, Naruto and Sasuke were judge by Kakashi and Sarutobei to be strong enough to take on many Jonin of Konoha. That's to tell what they were to those Cloud ninjas. The only thing was their numbers, and the special cases.

The smoke finally cleared, the wind easily getting in the crater that had become the street. It revealed the survivors. One had an untouched portion of pavement around him and the very air seemed charged with energy. He clearly stood out from one who was getting out of the rubble, bruised and bloody, the one that unwrapped himself from a strange red cloth and the last one who was hiding behind the wing of a tall bird with shimmering wings. Those would be more of a challenge. They would have no choices but to face them head on at some point. If they could, they would take them one at the time. No sense in rushing things. It was barely past one in the morning.

Naruto was glad though. The first ninja they saw standing untouched was the one who founded the council that was responsible for the death of Hiashi. He would take care of him personally.

Konoha's rogue shinobi played cat and mouse with them. They had no more explosive to use. They would do this the hard, cunning way. That clan must rely on political power if they only had four elite ninja to offer them. The whole sector was deserted. Non-combatants were long gone, evacuated, while the fighters were either dead, dying or one of the four they were now chassed by. It was getting harder to hide since the flames of the buildings provided unwelcome lighting.

As they passed one particularly flaming building, a sudden gust of wind blew in their direction. They had to shield their face with their arms from the excited flames and the flying sparks. They saw, coming down from the sky, the big bird they saw earlier with the grey wings that reflected the light of the flames on its mirror-like feather. His summoner was standing on his back, arms crossed. Sakura and the Uchiha Brothers had no doubt that that thing's wings were made of some kind of metal. Even in this situation, Naruto could not stop an appreciative whistle. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

The building, under this last wind attack, gave up and crashed on the ground. The Leaf trio jumped back to avoid the burning debris flying in all directions. Naruto, in mid-air, got swiped by a very hard red cloth in a whip-like move, sending him crashing through the last standing wall of a burnt house. Sasuke engaged a fist fight as soon as he landed with a ninja that seemed to have had better days while Sakura got hit by a powerful lightning jutsu, putting her down for the count.

Sasuke knew they were in trouble, but took it in stride. This was all training after all. These enemies were mere stepping stones to get to his and Naruto brother's level, Itachi. Thinking of him, Sasuke got an extra edge behind his punches, hitting the faster ninja in front of him while taking little damage. He was easily pushing him back. It was not surprising since the guy seemed to be dealing with the previous explosion's damage, which he seemed to have no other protection against it than his trained body. His taijutsu was not as strong as Lee's either, but not something to be made fun of. Sasuke trusted Naruto not to be out of the fight after such an attack.

Sakura, on the other hand, was out like a candle. The heavy men, who seemed to carry the energy of a thunderstorm, walked toward her slowly, a lecherous grin on his face.

"Hoga, go help Tobi take care of the raven kid. Kimoji, check out sunshine over there. I'll take care of this cute flower."

"Hurry up, Hoga! He's pushing me hard!"called out Tobi, Sasuke's adversary.

"You just had to train harder, stupid!" called the one manipulating some kind of cloth.

The other one laughed as he went to check if Naruto was out of business. As the supposed leader was about to touch Sakura, she burst in smoke that gave way to a burned plank. The huge man looked at it before raising his eye ahead of him. Several meters further was standing 'sunshine', holding the pink-haired girl with one of his arm, ashes everywhere on him. Why did he have sunglasses on his face at one AM in the morning? He got his answer as the young boy threw a volley of small object high in the air. He instantly shielded his eyes from the expected flash. He reopened them quickly as none came. He looked at the little popping balls in the air, dispersing in some light glistering stardust. The last of that clan's shinobi turned toward what had the attention of their leader and Sasuke took that chance to put on his own sunglasses.

_Then_ the flash came. As the protective peel melted at the contact of the air, the content ignited producing a white-hot flash that lasted several seconds. The Cloud ninja tried to shy away from the intense light while watching out for any surprise attack. When the darkness took back it's righteous place, the invading shinobi were nowhere to be found.

"Stay grouped, within sight. They can't be far."

Underground, Naruto made Sakura smell strong salt. She came back to her senses, coughing a little. Naruto put her hand on her mouth, and listened, making sure they were not heard. Sasuke was standing beside them, in that small hole underground. He lit a small candle, not daring using chakra to make light. The following conversation was mouthed, no sound escaping their lips.

"Those four formed a team. The lightning user is the leader and the taijutsu user is the weakest," began Sasuke.

"Okay then," followed Sakura. "I'll take care of that one. A taijutsu specialist is always dangerous on close range and would monopolize too much of one of you."

"Good analysis," replied Naruto, a sadist smile blooming on his face. "But I've got something to propose first."

* * *

As the Cloud ninja looked around for their enemies, three pairs of hands shot from the ground, took hold of three pair of ankles and pulled hard. Three ninja got buried in the ground up to neck level. That would occupy them for a while. Konoha's ninja erupted from the ground and stood before the leader of the last defenders of that clan: the big, electrical man.

"Kids. I hate kids."

"Oh YEAH? You seemed to like the look of one earlier I've been told!" Sakura yelled.

Sasuke and Naruto stiffened.

"Sakura! Stick to the plan!" said Sasuke harshly.

"The hell with it!" she screamed.

Sakura charged with a raw shout of rage. Sasuke and Naruto swore, trying to catch up to her in time, their enemy being only a few meters away. Sakura went for a straight punch that connected hard on a lightning shield. Her voice broke again in a scream, of pain this time. Before one of her teammate could figure a way to rescue her, their strongly built enemy caught her with a hand to the throat and pressed her against him, her back to his chest. She was out of the shield effect but was jerking with spasm as her muscles were still strained from the shock. The man took no chances and trapped both her delicate wrists with one of his large hand. The other began to explore her as she weakly tried to get out of his hold.

"You'd be better to surrender. You can't pass my shock shield. I'll make her taste my pleasure before your eyes if you don't. Then I'll kill her. Hummm… Maybe I'll make her taste it anyway…"

The man interrupted his threatening speech as he felt something weird on his hand. He raised it in front of his eyes. It was sooth. 'Sakura' grinned very unlady like and, with a proof of superior strength, freed herself from the man's hold. As she turned to face him, her form erupted in smoke, giving place to a very happy Naruto.

"Gotcha… SHOTGUN! The twelve hits!"

Naruto fist glowed of a hard blue, even more then for his attack against the clan's guard. Twelve times his fist went forward, landing all around the chest of his enemy, exept for the twelfth. That one was a rising uppercut under the jaw. The man was broken all over by a chakra version of a harder-than-steel gloved fist.

The man lost his electric aura as he stumbled back. From his mouth escaped a continuous stream of blood as he fell on his back. As if the injuries were not enough, he strangled himself with his own blood, in a disgusting gurgling noise. The sight filled Naruto with ease.

"You're avenged now, father."

The other Cloud ninjas were in shock. Their master had been beaten! So easily! They didn't realize they simply exploited an obvious weakness.

"How… did you pass his shield unhurt?" asked the one called Hoga, the cloth wielder, as he finished getting out of the ground.

"I countered it with a shield of my own," answered Naruto, dusting some soot from himself. Damn. His white shorts were ruined.

"You'll never leave this place alive," said Kimoji, the Summonner, shaking the dust from himself.

Sasuke turned toward Sakura, who had abandoned her Henge of Naruto.

"Take care of the taijutsu guy. We'll get the two others. Then we'll make sure noone else is alive."

"Hai."

That simple dismissal enraged their adversary to no end, making them forget that a simple ruse from the trio had reason of their master. Kimoji attacked Naruto while the hot-headed summonner called upon a flight of sharp-beaked birds. The taijutsu specialist slowly made his way toward Sakura.

She had a lot of options to lead this battle on. This guy was not Naruto or Sasuke and was a far cry from Lee. But he still held his own, injured, against Sasuke for a while. Did he have his Sharingan active back then? She turned sharply toward her ravn-haired teammate and saw black eyes. Seeing how he was paining in dodging the flying razors, she yelled at him.

"IDIOT! We leave no witness! Use it! Think of what you could gather with it!"

Sasuke grimaced. He wanted to get better without the help of his dojutsu, but she was right. This was not everyday training. His eyes transformed in its three comma forms. From then on, the birds seemed to simply miss him. Sakura turned toward her own adversary.

"What are you waiting for? I was distracted and you didn't even take advantage of it!" she scolded him, pissed at being taken lightly.

"You… you were not ready! It would have been unfair!" he answered, taken aback by her anger.

Sakura could not believe what she heard.

"What the hell are you doing in this clan? Your mindset is totally off," she said, making wide gestures with her arms.

The young man adverted his eyes, looking dejectingly at the ground.

"Even you say that. I know I'm not worthy of being a ninja but… it doesn't mean I won't…"

As he said that he got his eyes back on her. All the strength seemed to leave his body. He failed again. In the short time he lost her from his direct sight, she closed the distance between them in absolute silence. She was holding a kunai forward, pointed on his throat. He hastily made a step back only to be poked on the neck by another. A shadow clone of his adversary stood there, stopping him from running away. The pink-haired kunoichi grinned.

"Those two can make over a dozen clones if they want to. I found one to be enough in most case."

"So… I'm dead now, am I?" he asked, all hope leaving his eyes.

Sakura hissed between her teeth, made a step forward and hit the guy right between the eyes with her cute little fist. Five seconds later, the guy got back to his senses. He was tied in steel wires from head to toes. A Sakura sat each side of him, keeping him quiet with a kunai. They were checking the battle of her teammates. Tobi did the same, and got to the same conclusion as her. His teammates were doomed.

* * *

Naruto was having fun! The guy could shape his cloth in a shield and wrap himself in it! He could form a large weapon of his choosing, say… a large and long spear, and nail him from afar. The logical solution, fire, didn't work. The guy avoided taijutsu like a plague and mainly tried to wrap him up. Naruto guessed he was trying to pull a 'Gaara' on him with some kind of ultimate defense. The blond didn't want to finish like a freshly pressed orange though.

"Sorry pal, no Naruto burrito today."

The thing was, he was running out of ideas. His short sword barely helped to deflect it. The guy would protect himself in the case of an explosion like he did in the central street. What was the weakness of cloth? One that is less evident?

Naruto had to stop his musing to execute a few acrobatic moves. A jump to get out of the way of the spear, a twist in mid-air not to get impaled by it as it followed him and a backflip, using the very cloth as a support, not to let it get around him. It was so damn slick!

Yes! That was it! If it would not be so easy to manipulate, it would leave openings! Now he needed a move or a technique to rip it off of it's ductility. Or a new combo. This would be fun! Naruto was so glad that he took some training time with Haku before the start of the Chuunin exam. Ice jutsu were tricky, but useful. He learned one jutsu well enough. Naruto like to deal with direct effect stuff. The Ice needles were too subtle for him.

Naruto crouched down in a large puddle of water. There was a lot of those everywhere since the explosions. They spilled the content of every water barrel on the ground. They destroyed a few underground pipes of the aqueduct system too. Time to put it to good use.

Naruto made a long string of hand seals, dodging the incoming spear.

"Suiton: water missiles."

Streams of water shot from his puddle toward the cloth user. The Cloud ninja used his blood-red weapon to deflect the watery shots. There was some strength behind them, but nothing near his previous fire attack. He simply waited for his chakra reserve to dry down or for him to realise the futility of that move. The rhythm of the attack only grew, to the annoyance of the Cloth nin. He was getting soaked! The little prat managed to direct water from above!

Naruto, having concentrated a lot of water around the guy named Hoga, decided it was time to finish this. He let go of his technique only to start another one. Hoga unwrapped himself and charged blindly, his spear drawn back behind him. Naruto was unsure this would work. He still had to work on the aim of that jutsu.

"Secret art: Ice pillar!"

Naruto partially missed. As his adversary was about to swipe his red spear at him, his feet lost balance and he fell to the ground, his weapon stuck behind him. As he looked back, his face paled. A two meter high pillar made of hard ice incased his weapon. He was getting colder himself. He let got of his weapon numbly. His weapon. It was trapped. It could have been him in that pillar. He felt cold. Very cold. His vision was getting darker. As he looked down, he saw the end of a katana coming out of his chest. A pool of blood was tainting his shirt red. Red like his trapped weapon.

* * *

Sasuke, after Sakura's intervention, had no problem with the flight of furious summons. He took out his blade and sent them back to their plane, one after the other. The Cloud nin was no amateur. The proof was that he didn't wait for all of his birds to be gone to react. He jumped back on his larger bird and took flight. Seeing that the smaller bird were of no effect, Kimoji told his flying minion to send air strikes, ignoring the smaller birds. The wind attack hitting the pavement didn't seem to cut as much as to crush. The rest of the smallest birds were killed by friendly fire. Even then, the air attacks never seemed to threaten the Uchiha who always seemed to guess where they would land.

Sasuke, nailed to the floor, devised a plan to get rid of the flying summon. He stopped running to make hand seals. A stone dragon rose under him, propelling him up toward the unbelieving ninja. You're not supposed to ride your own attack! The Cloud ninja focussed his summon's attack against the neck of the dragon, ripping him from his stone base. Sasuke, his balance off, threw two kunaï in his enemy's way. The bird easily changed course to avoid them as well as the two others that were coming way faster behind them. What neither bird nor master predicted is that the second volley of projectiles hit the first, deflecting them back on the bird's new flight course. They hit the volatile in the sides, dispelling it. The Cloud ninja found himself without a mount under him. As he fell to the ground, he played his last trump card. His hand flying to make the summoning seals in time, he pull in all the chakra he had left without dying. He hoped it would be enough.

Desperate situations always get the best out of us. The summoning worked. The ninja fell to the ground, on a feathered paw. The Leaf ninjas were struck in awe. They never saw or even heard of anything like this. Naruto and Sasuke knew that special summons, different from usual animals, existed. It was their first time seeing one thought. Even for a seasoned ninja, this would be a rare sight.

The bird looked like a condor mixed with a black panther. It had paws at the end of his immaculate white wings. The rest of his shining black body was covered with what looked like hard steel feathers. He seemed to be able to stand upright or on all four. His head was rounder that the usual bird. His beck was wider and had sharps, pointy, curved teeth. He was looking at the tiny human on his front paw/wing with something akin to disgust. The summon user had only eyes for his enemy. He looked to be at the end of his strength.

"He… You're doomed. I did it. The mystic Bird Boss: Chimera. He's gonna kick… arrrg… your…"

"Stupid human. Do you know how I managed to get summoned? You tried so hard that you took what was missing of chakra directly in your life force. I answered the summoning only so I could tell you this in person: I revoke our contract. "

Kimoji slowly raised his head and froze at the look his own summon directed at him. The majestic beast raised its paw, rolling the now pathetic ninja to the ground.

"Why?" –cough- -cough- "What did I do?"

"So imbued of yourself… A respected summon will gladly sacrifice himself to protect you despite the pain involved as its very existence is rarely in danger. But you're _expecting_ _it_ from them! As if it was natural! You look down at us as mere tools! A simple ninja technique that bring moving weapons! On top of that, you expect me to help you the very first time we meet! What arrogance. It ends now."

As the Bird Boss was about to lower a paw on the man's throat, a voice stopped him.

"Sugoï… You look powerful… so beautiful…so cool!"

Chimera turned its head toward the source of the compliment. The young blond kid, an adversary of his ex-summoner, was looking at him with stars in his wide blue eyes. Unconsciously, Chimera puffed its chest a little and shuffled his feather to gleam under the light of the moon.

"Haaaww. Say, you want a new summonner? I heard a place just got freed!"

The first impression Chimera had of Naruto was good. Nothing worked better on a pretty bird than flattering.

"You're right, but it doesn't mean I've got to take the first one to ask."

"I'll be good! I'll be powerful! I'll make you proud! Jiraiya-jiji told me a lot about summons! He wanted me to sign the frog contract! They are strong and all…"

Chimera flapped his wings angrily. The frogs. Humpf!

"… and they _would_ have been dead useful at one point lately but somewhere…I was waiting for more. This feels right."

"You've got a tongue heavy with honey, kid. Alright. I'll put you to the test. You know the seals for the summoning technique, right?"

"Yes sir!"

"Good."

The gigantic bird got a very small scroll from under a feather and gave it to him.

"Sign this, smear a couple of drops of blood on your finger and mark the scroll with it."

Naruto did exactly as told before rolling back the scroll and handing it back to his new Boss partner.

"Very well. We'll see, in the future, if you are worthy of our trust."

The summon slapped a claw on the ground and disappeared.

"Can't summon go only when they are dismissed?" asked a confused Sakura.

"Yeah, or when their user dies," said Naruto, pointing to the spot where Chimera clawed the ground before disappearing. The suffering of the Cloud ninja had been finally shortened.

Then it was silence. They were standing, the three of them alone in the middle of the rumble. Naruto felt suddenly relieved. The clan was dead.

"Annooooo… Can I leave now?"

Well, almost all of the clan. The Leaf trio turned toward the taijutsu specialist, still sitting, bound, on the ground. Sasuke turned toward Sakura, a question etched on his face.

"I KNOW! But he's so much like Lee! How do you expect me to kill him!" Sakura explained pleadingly.

"We can't keep bringing foreign ninja back to our village like lost puppies!" he argued, pointing Tobi.

"How killing him like this would be doing anything better than what your brother did? Are you trying to become like him to beat him?" Sakura asked angrily.

That question was like touching a delicate nerve, with a cactus. Both brothers looked at the enemy ninja. His face was free of malice. Instead, he looked confused.

"Why aren't you killing me? Not that I complain! But aren't you from an enemy village? How can you be so strong? So young on top of that!"

"Of course…" said Naruto, "Any village will tell to his ninjas that they are the strongest."

"He's not liking it here!" pleaded Sakura. "He feel rejected!"

"He's not coming with us," countered Naruto. "Not like this. You know why."

Sakura bowed her head. She knew what was left to do. Sasuke drew a kunai and walked toward the resigned ninja. Tobi closed his eyes and waited for the strike to come. That's why he fell on his back when the wires loosen.

Sasuke put away his knife and looked at Naruto who was gripping his head like a mad-man. He was better than him with people problems. He rather liked to handle the strategic side of a battle.

"OK!" he shouted, raising back his head. "Tobi, that's your name, right? We'll have to trust you on this one. We'll spare your life. Only injure you enough to make it credible. You'll play the 'traumatised guy who lost his clan' and leave the village since 'the pain was too intense.' Tell them you'll work for them outside your village, spying the other ones. They always need spies. We'll find you back after that and affiliate you with our village, unofficially. How does that sound?"

"Complicated," answered Tobi.

The three of them facefaulted.

"But I think I get it. Somehow, it looks… inviting."

"How do you feel about us? About your clan?" asked the raven haired boy.

Sasuke had to be sure. He was taking so much deaths way too well. The questioned man took a few second to ponder on his own feelings.

"You know, I was bullied as a child and nothing changed as I became adult. It was even crueller than it was originally. I never liked the leader of this clan, or my partners. I knew them all, so the shock will probably catch up later. But I won't regret them...much. About you… well… you're getting out of your way to spare me."

"Good enough," shrugged Sasuke. "A lot better than expected in fact."

Naruto turned toward Sakura, smiling widelly.

"Sakura, if you could do us the honor of wounding him enough and knock him out?"

"Why me?"

"You spared him," frowned Sasuke.

Sakura lowered her head and walked to the Cloud… to Tobi. She smiled sadly to the brave shinobi, who was simply waiting to get hit. And hit him she did. Again and again, harder each time. She didn't have much of a choice, he was built against damage done in close combat! He was rough, even in his weaken state. It took a good five minutes of pummelling before she managed to knock him unconscious for a while. She was panting hard. He never made a move to deflect a blow.

"I… I got to… haaaaaaa… hit harder!" said a hard breathing Sakura.

"That, you do. Now, we should escape quickly. The first light of the morning are showing to the east. The village's guards will be here soon," said Sasuke.

"How did you two planned to escape this place?"

"The Earth Deplacement technique, in team mode," replied Naruto.

"But I can't use this!"

"It was not planned for you to come to start with," explained Sasuke.

Another problem arose. Sakura was so tired and just wanted to go home to her bed. She looked at Naruto.

"Can't one of your birds carry us away?"

Naruto looked back at her, blinking twice.

* * *

The village's sentinels were waiting for the signal. As the sun shot his first ray over the horizon, they entered the devastated compound who had only its surrounding wall standing intact. They didn't go far as they saw a sparkling, winged form in the air. The sun's rays were deflected by the metal bird.

"It's Kimoji's summon!" one of the Anbu called.

They looked at it fly high, leaving the flatten top that held a flourishing clan just the day before, not showing any sign it would land.

"What is he… HEY! It's not him! It must be the intruders! They're trying to escape! How did they steal his summon?"

Clouds ninja could jump high, but there was a limit to everything. They threw shurikens and kunaïs while jumping but the weapons who made it too close were easily deflected by the summon's hard wings. Still, the bird wasn't going at the speed they were used to see in full flight.

"They're too heavy! They're must be more than one on it and it's slowing it down! Follow it! Don't lose them!" yelled the Cloud Anbu Captain.

Lightning jutsu was used, but still could not reach it. Most of them were designed to hit a target of the same height or below the caster. The bird flew out of the village, slowly making his way out of reach, a score of ninja following them. Three Anbu got out of the lot. Two of them ran ahead and prepared their hands, joined low. The third ran at full speed and used them to boost his jump. The ninja flew high, making hand seals. So strong was the jump and the momentum given by his two comrade he climbed to get a mere ten meter behind the fleeting invaders.

"Secret Art: Armored air!"

The space right before the bird shimmered. The summon could not avoid it, as it was way too close, and smashed in a wall of solidified air. Without his momentum, the bird began to fall, rolling on his back. The ninjas on it tried to hold on but lost their grip. The bird disappeared in a puff of smoke, stripping them from all hope to get back on their flight. Cloud ninjas were waiting for them. They would kill whatever would be left splattered on the mountainside. As they made impact, a bad surprise awaited the Cloud shinobi. The invaders left in smoke.

* * *

"So, this is escape route number six?"

Sakura, in her soft brown, lean cat form softly asked Naruto in his tabby orange form.

"Yeah. We used it now and then… you know…"

"Right! So, that's how you two passed by us so many times!"

They got back to their silent, lazy walk or playful run around the Cloud village. After making the decoy, they used the normal earth transportation technique to get out of the former's clan compound. Their pursuers were far too busy to look up in the sky to notice them underground. They got out in a deserted alley, used a henge and were simply walking out by the main gate. They kept the disguise a while before changing back and start running. They were far from danger now. But Sakura found out she could do nothing else but think to what they did those past few days...

* * *

"So, that's how we got back on the roads to the village you indicated, Jiraiya-sama. We followed your advice and managed to find Tsunade's trail by visiting Game Houses."

Sakura stood silent after that. The rest of that tale was irrelevant right now. Jiraiya had heard what he wanted to know.

The Sanin was sitting on the spongy floor. He had the pose that suggested intense reflection. He didn't stop her once, never asking a single question. But now was the time to find out what she didn't tell.

"Did they ever force you to kill?"

"No."

Jiraiya sighed with relief. If they had done that, there would have been no compromise.

"I chose to do that by myself. I followed the years of teaching we had here," continued Sakura.

Jiraiya stiffened.

"Our teaching?"

"It would be naïve to think that after all of our training, kunai throwing practice and lesson on ninja philosophy overlooking all emotions that could hinder us that we would have a peaceful job, free of all dangers and conflicts."

What could Jiraiya answer to that that would not be a white lie? They were trained and hired to protect people with lethal force, or to be the assassin of that very person. It was the crude truth of the shinobi world. But he was not done yet.

"You really spared an enemy ninja that knew your face?"

"Hai," she nodded, not a hint of remorse showing.

"You do realize Hidden Cloud could find out that Leaf ninjas are at the bottom of this?"

"Let's play a game, Jiraiya-sama," Sasuke said, talking for the first time. "Let's say I'm a representative of Hidden Cloud," he kept on, not having been told to stay silent. Jiraiya looked curious.

Sasuke took an angry pose and started talking in an aggressive tone.

"I came here, in enemy territory, to accuse you of an attack inside my own village! The three we spotted decimated all the fighting force of a clan! Since they escaped, we can't truly tell who it was except that they were very young ninja. We demand compensation!"

Jiraiya almost laughed. Yeah, Cloud was screwed. He simply hoped they didn't have enough evidence to start an open war.

"Even then, I'm disappointed with both of you. I thought you'd be above that," he sighed, shaking his head.

Naruto frowned.

"Who could ever be?" he said. "Who would not hold a grudge against someone who killed someone dear to you? Who could, knowing that they tried to befriend us only to come to that? Tell me, Jiraiya-sama, don't you hold a grudge against someone else yourself? Didn't you ever try to act on it?"

The elderly man stiffened, but it was only an easy guess from Naruto. One could not get to his position without making enemies, and that's not counting Orochimaru...

"Don't be too quick to judge, Jiraiya-sama," kept on Naruto, his voice calm and sad. "We did it in the name of my family, in the memory of Hizashi, my father. Not on the behalf of Konoha. We didn't have our forehead protectors on."

"You should be court-martialled…"frowned Jiraiya.

"Yeah, right," answered Sasuke this time. "Remove us from service, when we're already undermanned from a massive enemy attack. Us, a three-man team that manage to kill a whole clan of enemy ninja in their own village. That'd be smart."

-Sigh- "You put me in a tight spot. Any other killing spree planned?"

"Only one other man," replied Sasuke, dead serious. "But we're not ready. This was good practice though."

The Sanin took a serious tone.

"Don't you regret any of this?"

"Nope," said Naruto.

"You know that's not the answer I wanted to hear."

"It's an honest one. That's what we owe you," Sasuke said in turn.

Jiraiya scratched his head, grumbling.

"If you go after everyone who kills one of your friends or family members… "

"Yeah. That'll keep us busy," Naruto finished, rolling his eyes. "But it's not like that. Everyone is responsible for his own death. My father chose it. But for the Cloud clan's to _ask_ for it… It's not as if he died in a battle. You know perfectly well that this is a special case. Don't let a false feeling of guilt lead you wrong."

"Alright already! I'll let this slide, this time. It's a one time deal."

"See this as a free 'A-Rank' mission we did for the village if it can ease your mind. That could have happened, right?" Sasuke proposed, one eyebrow raised.

"Yeah… right…"Jiraiya grumbled, getting up.

"No biggies then!" Naruto said cheerfully. "Now, if you don't mind, we have an appointment with the new Hokage. It's going to be fun to be paid by her for a mission that put her there unwillingly because she lost, yet, another bet."

"Can I come and watch? I'll be quiet!" begged Jiraiya.

* * *

**MAAAAAAAAAAAANNNN! That was one hell of a chapter. I hope you liked it!**

**Beta'ed by Rauchster 3-25-08**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I started a cult where we all own Naruto. Unfortunately, I've been kicked out. Not my lucky day.**

* * *

Naruto walked back home, Sasuke at his side, his hand fiddling with a kunai. Naruto knew it meant his brother worried. Naruto felt something that was missing too. Something they forgot to take care of. They turned a corner and got the first view of their house in too long.

Things were looking bad. Haku knew they were coming home tonight, and no lights were on. They turned in combat mode in an instant. They had to expect the worst case scenario: the house was taken and Haku taken hostage. The road must be watched. They ran straight for the main door, not caring for traps. There weren't any. The living room was occupied by five persons, which Haku was part of.

He looked bad. He was bruised, bloody and must have more than one broken bones. He was barely conscious. The man over him had four arms. Two of them were keeping their friend up while the two others were raised as if to resume the beating they just interrupted. There was melting ice everywhere. A woman was putting a flute away while a bear of a man was shaking off big chunks of ice he had attached all around him. The last man, who looked the most bizarre, was pulling ice senbons he had all over him. Look like Haku gave them a frosty welcome before being overrun.

"Who are you and what do you want with us?" asked Sasuke loudly. His hands were ready to unleash apocalypse on those intruders. Naruto prepared to summon some birds for help too, before joining the inevitable fray himself.

"We are the Sound Four," said the biggest man. "Orochimaru-sama most trusted servant. We came here to offer you, Uchiha Sasuke, a deal."

The multi-armed guy, seeing no sense into beating their friend in front of them, let Haku fall on the floor. The ice user didn't move from there. Sasuke staying silent, the hunchback ninja stepped forward to keep the conversation going.

"What do _we_ want? We want nothing. Our _master_ wants something from you, that must be certain. But whatever he ask for, he has something worth your trouble to offer in exchange."

"And what would that be?" asked Sasuke, seeing the battle might be avoided after all.

"Power. You're lucky, our master choose you as his apprentice. You will have access to secrets of power you still have no idea of," kept on the hunchback.

"Everything has a price. What's his?" asked Sasuke.

"That would have to be discussed with the Master. I conclude you are considering it?" said the girl.

"Sasuke! Don't!" Naruto said quickly. "He's an enemy of the Leaf! It would mean betrayal!"

"Shut up, Naruto! Know your place," Sasuke hissed.

Naruto's head dropped down, like his shoulder, and he kept his objections limited to a hateful glare to the four monsters in front of him.

The Sound nins looked pleased. That's pretty much what they expected from the brother of Itachi. He would be humbled by the power of their master anyway.

"Get through the East Gate of Konoha tomorrow, one hour before dawn. We'll escort you to him. Come alone," the huge man said, seeing no point in staying any longer.

The four ninja slowly walked out. Naruto threw himself over Haku, checking his wounds. Sasuke stood there a moment, staring at nothing, and then calmly walked up the stair to his bedroom. He packed kunais and shurikens in his pouch. He gathered enough of his belonging to get by for a while. He left all that on his bed and got back downstairs. Naruto was long gone with Haku to Konoha's hospital. He slowly walked out, following at a leisure pace the same path his brother just took.

* * *

Haku was immediately transferred to the intense care section. His injuries, broken and fractured bones, perforation and blood loss, were common ones. But they were many, and all at the same time. Tsunade got back from a bar she was exchanging fond memories with Jiraiya for the last hours in a hurry. She was able to turn the tide of a losing battle, even without getting near the operation table. She had barely opened the door that she closed it, white in the face. Instead she took the diagnosis pad with the quick scrabbling of the doctor nin in charge that evening and began shooting order and procedures to the nurses coming out.

Jiraiya followed her ex-teammate and put a hand on Naruto's shoulder to comfort him. The blond threw himself on him, crying loudly, hot tears escaping his eyes. The Sanin, surprised, tried to soothe him as he could. Sasuke got in at that moment, and simply stood against the wall. Looking at his brother from the corner of his eyes, he mumbled something that sounded a lot like 'wimp'. Jiraiya was more than a little surprised by his attitude, but so was he of Naruto. He let it slide, passing it as shock.

The Uchiha Brothers stayed until the light were turned out, signalling the end of the visiting hours. Haku wasn't out of the intensive care room yet. Sasuke turned back toward the exit and made his way out. Naruto bit his lips, got up and followed Sasuke, two steps behind. Both of them got to sleep right then. Two hours before dawn, they woke up.

Sasuke, followed by Naruto, walked toward the eastern gate. The first lights of dawn were creeping over the horizon, hidden by the approaching walls and the trees of the forest beyond. All was still dark.

"Guys! Guuuuuyyyyss!"

Sakura was running toward them, like she was, a few weeks ago, before another mission they could not take her.

"Seriously, what's going on? I heard by Jiraiya-sama that Haku was hurt badly and that you two were acting strangely! You were not at the hospital, nor were you at home! I woke up extra early just to be sure to get you before your training and now I catch you two going toward the exit of the village, each with a backpack! What's this all about?"

Naruto was looking furtively left and right, as if checking that they were not watched but stopped under an angry glare from Sasuke.

"Sorry, Sakura. I had an offer I could not refuse. I'm going away to train," he said coldly.

"Away? But… You can't! Not like this! You'll be branded as missing ninja!" Sakura protested.

"Like my sensei. Tell Jiraiya not to take this personally."

Sasuke disappeared in a blur and hit her at the base of her neck with a clean chop. Her eyes went wide and she fell down on the ground face first. Naruto made a move to get to her but was stopped, once again by a look from his brother. They stepped away from the village, never looking back. They didn't need to go far to be greeted by a Sound ninja.

"Good job with the girl, but now she'll be able to talk," said the spidery Sound Four, Kidomaru, waiting in a tree.

"We told you to come alone," continued the huge one. "What is the demon brat doing here?"

Sasuke made no move suggesting he was intimated in any way. Only slightly annoyed.

"He's following me. He's loyal to me. Enough to leave his own village without a second protest. When I told him my decision, he accepted it and acted on it, may he like it, or not. So, he's coming. He'll train with me to get strong enough to be useful to me. No matter what you say. Are we going now or what?"

"Orochimaru-sama will…" begin the girl.

"He'll accept it or else! The dude wants something from me! If he's so dead set to have _me_ as his apprentice, he'll bend to my demands! I'll not stoop so low as to negotiate with his underling! You are messengers, delivery boys! Get the job done now and lead the way!" he said loudly.

The Four hissed at being treated so. For once, it was Naruto who looked impassive. Sasuke was grinning evilly. He knew he was right. And they knew that he knew that they _knew_ he was right! Right? Right. They turned around and started to travel through the trees. The Uchiha deserters followed them.

* * *

"So, those were their exact words, Sakura?" asked Jiraiya, rubbing his chin.

"Hai. I had the feeling I had to play along. Their attitudes were way off," she said, shaking her head.

"They went away… training… with a missing nin and told me not to take this personally. It's clear that they are going to Orochimaru. But why faking to knock you down? If you could get back up and try to stop them again… They were watched. Even then, if they really had the attention of going, they would have incapacitated you in a more permanent way! And I don't believe either of those two are traitors."

Jiraiya put a hand in his pocket, his head low. Then he felt something. In his left pocket. He took it out and looked at the device. It was an emitter–receiver. Not the kind you could talk in. This one emitted a vibration when it came in the programmed distance of his brother emitter.

"DAMMIT! They planned an attack on Orochimaru's lair! Naruto must have slipped this in my pocket yesterday while I was comforting him! Get on the move! We must take this to the Hokage!"

* * *

The run was speechless. Not in the way that it was incredible and eventful. Quite the contrary. It was silent. As they reach a plain area, the Four ninja of the Sound leading the two Uchiha supposed traitors found and unwanted ally. A man was standing there, his face deadly white. By his clothing, one knowing them would recognize one of Orochimaru's man. From this one came a feeling of loneliness, but of danger too. Neither Naruto nor Sasuke wanted to mess with this guy.

"Kimimaru!" shouted the spider ninja. "What dah hell are you doing here? Master Orochimaru sent _us_ to do the job! You're not needed!"

The man didn't seem to be bothered by his rude tone in the slightest.

"You succeeded? It's a surprise. I'm not barring the way. Proceed with haste. I'll stay here in case you are followed."

"We are not! None of our traps were activated!" growled the bigger Sound Four.

"Meaning they sent somebody skilled enough to avoid them. Stop wasting the Master's time. He's waiting for the boy."

It was _their_ mission dammit! Why was everybody making fools of them! First the brat, and now this! The girl was making her way to get her flute while the others were assuming their own battle stance.

The man, his face never hinting any intentions, move behind the hunchback ninja, a strange blade pointed under the weird nin's throat and another under his strange hump in his back, before any of them could react.

"I wonder what would happen if I was to cut both your throats at the same time?"

Naruto and Sasuke were awed. How did he do that? They saw the moves but they were so fluids they almost hurt the eyes!

The Sound Four predictably backed down and the group got back on the road. They went at that rhythm for hours, finally crossing the border of Rice Country, passed whole fields of what made the name of the place. They were all in full exploitation. It seemed to grow everywhere and anywhere. Naruto mused it must result in a wide variety of rice… and sake. They entered a wood that had some resemblance to the Forest of Death. But it lacked the threat Naruto felt back there. They got in sight of an underground entrance to what look like an important complex. The first thing that greeted them was a soul shattering scream.

The Sound Four stopped dead in their track, terrified. It was to be expected, now and then, to hear such a thing in there. But this time, the timing was too perfect. The huge man turned toward Sasuke.

"Y-you. Wait in that room right there. We'll see if the Master is ready to see you."

"Ready? He's the one who asked for me!" protested Sasuke.

"Shut up! Get your ass in there and wait!" he yelled, not backing down to the brat.

Sasuke closed his eyes and raised his shoulder, not caring. He walked in the room and stood against a wall. Naruto followed without a word, taking a place at his right.

The Scared Sound Four went down a few hallways. Tayuya, the only female of the group, opened a door that led to a railing over the arena floor on an impulse.

"Hoy, boys, look at this."

Her three companions looked over her shoulder. The arena floor was covered thick with bodies.

"These were… Orochimaru's candidates," said Kidomaru, shivering.

"He probably chose the one that survived," continued the biggest of the group.

The implications were not lost and made them shiver. They failed their Master. Again. This time, it was the fault of time itself. What fate awaits them?

The Four of them knew that Orochimaru must be under Kabuto's care right now. It would not be wise to disturb them. It would be better to simply wait until he got aware of their return. More probably, when he'll feel like acknowledging their presence to get the mission report. Their lives would last that much longer. So, they waited.

Time never seem to get by too slowly when you're not in a hurry to do something. The door leading to Orochimaru's sanctum opened all too soon. They walked in, head lowered, to knee before the bandaged form of their master.

"So… You _did_ return…"

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama! The Uchiha brat is in the first waiting room, waiting for any order you might…"

"That's pretty presumptuous from you," said a voice from the back of the room.

The huge man, the one who was interrupted, closed a fist and hissed.

"You should kneel before your master, baby punk!" growled Jirobo, still on one knee.

"I didn't agree to be anyone's apprentice yet," argued Sasuke.

"Why you…"

He was interrupted again, this time by Orochimaru's laugh.

"The spunk of that kid is undeniable. I like that. Stand aside Jirobo, I want him before me."

Jirobo knew better then to discuss an order from an already unpleased Orochimaru. But that kid _really_ grated his nerves. The Sound Four stood aside, making way to the newcomers.

Sasuke slowly walked up to him, Naruto at his side, a step back.

"You took a pet with you in souvenir, Sasuke-kun?" asked the Snake Sanin, amused.

"Hey! I'm no..." started Naruto, outraged.

"You could say that," interrupted him Sasuke.

The blond's head sunk and he stayed silent.

"But still, he's useful to me," kept on the Uchiha. "I trained him as I trained myself. He's not _that_ far behind. In the long run, he should be useful," shrugged Sasuke.

"Then I see no reason to send him away. As long as he's loyal to us..."

The threat was barely hidden.

"So...except for the injuries you gave me in the Forest of Death, what else have you got for me?" Sasuke asked mildly, remembering their first encounter.

"Straight to the point, my young friend? Very well. I can teach you techniques that would not even have been told existed to you in that insufferable village. Powerful jutsu that manipulate dead and death. Training that will tone your body, surgery that will enhance it further and make it as invulnerable as mine. I would make you take the snake's contract and give you the finest weapons there is."

"Techniques, summons, training. They are waiting in line at the village to give me just that. How will yours be any different? Know that I'm still not convinced and that my village would greet me with open arms may I choose to get back. What proof do I have that under your teaching, in the long run, I'll be more powerful?" Sasuke asked.

"An intelligent subordinate," mumbled Orochimaru, a hand under his chin. "It has been a long time since I had to deal with that..."

The Sound Four knew better than to make any sign they were unpleased by the comment sent their way. Kabuto took a sour expression, but guessed he was not included in the lot. He got back to his mildly interested state.

"To answer that, know that you won't have to share your tutor here. As the most powerful of the three Sanin, I have more to teach you then anybody you left in that pathetic, peaceful village. You would have no boundary to what you desire to learn. No technique would be forbidden except in names. Puerile morality won't stand in the way. If I would have been able to give you your... present... at that time, you would know by now what I am talking about."

Orochimaru was looking at Naruto in a predatory way. This one would suffer for the humiliation he endured in the Forest of Death.

"Well... then... I propose a test to check this out with a fight," Sasuke proposed, smiling broadly.

"Against I?" stated a surprise and almost laughing snake master.

"Against your underling," corrected Sasuke. "Those called the Sound Four. If theses, under your guidance, can't survive a fight against the product of Konoha's ninja, how could I trust to become any better then them with you as a teacher?"

Orochimaru looked as if Christmas had come early... and Santa brang him a little boy. He was actually looking for a way to punish the Four in question for their lack of judgment during his fight against the Third Hokage. There was another advantage to this... that his precious Sasuke would find out himself.

"What a delightful idea! But isn't four against one..."

"One on one fights," precised Sasuke. "It would cut the fun way too soon if I were to beat them all in one fight."

The ninjas dutifully ignored were now throwing daggers with their eyes. The twerp would pay for this.

"To make things interesting, two of them will face my own underling, Naruto," Sasuke said, pointing said blond. Naruto looked eager to prove himself.

"Why not? It should be... fun. And I have just the place for this," cooed Orochimaru.

"The arena is not ready for use yet, Orochimaru-sama." whispered Kabuto.

"We'll simply toss the bodies aside. Don't bother me with such details, Kabuto-kun," answered Orochimaru, clearly amused.

He slowly rose from his seat and lead them. The room wasn't far from his 'throne room' and... was full of freshly dead bodies, as intended. The Four realized it was a powerful reminder to them about the cost of their failure to their master. His perfect body was to be delayed and two scores of fighters that could have become Sound nins were laying dead at their feet.

Kabuto animated many corpses so they could move to the side walls by themselves while the Four simply tossed them aside manually.

"You too," Sasuke told Naruto, pointing at the mess.

Naruto turned toward Sasuke in shock but didn't say a word as he jogged to the nearest dead body to angrily throw him against a wall.

"Don't mind him, Orochimaru-san," said Sasuke on a conversation tone. "He simply needs further reminders of... his place."

"You seem to have things well in hand, Sasuke-kun. I think we will get along just fine," the Snake drawled on.

Sasuke wanted to throw up and managed to suppress a shiver. Get along with that freak? He was barely able to make a small smirk reach his lips in answer to the missing nin compliment.

The arena was still bloody in some places but the effect was perfect for a battleground. Orochimaru made a sign for the biggest of the Four, Jirobo, to stay in the arena since he would begin. Sasuke made a head sign to Naruto to do the same. The rest of them got up on the railing, a parody of the Chuunin preliminaries, some weeks ago. Kabuto got a chair for his master from somewhere. Sasuke rested himself against a wall.

"Well then... whenever you're ready," said Orochimaru lazily.

Naruto stood in face of the big man. You can't become that big by training as a ballet dancer. He knew the guy would be really strong. He was not all fat. Probably was he even stronger than he looked. But Naruto knew that he, too, was stronger than what meet the eye. _Way_ stronger. The episode with the Demon Brothers taught him it was not every ninja that trained the bases as he did. The size of muscles is only illusionary in some case too.

The man surprised him with a quick chain of seals.

"Mokuton: Earth Dance!"

From the arena floor raised a circular wall of earth and trapped Naruto. Inside the dome, Naruto was waiting to fight his way out as soon as it would collapse on him. It didn't happen that way. The hermetic prison ceased to move as soon as it closed. That was it? No crumbling? No knives or spears coming from the walls? No poisoned gas, acid or at least water to suffocate him?

Naruto closed the distance separating him from the wall and put a hand against it. He clearly felt his chakra leave his body. At the speed that guy was going, he would die from starvation before he got through his sea of chakra! He moved his hand along the wall and found the place his energy left his body the fastest. That was the weak point. He began to gather energy. When he felt he had enough, he took the pose for his Hyuga/Uchiha hybrid fighting style. He would have to think for a shorter name for it. The original way he wanted to use it was practically useless to him. He _need_ to see tenketsu or at least a chakra pathway in his adversary's body in combat for the chakra to enter his body and disturb its natural ways. It would happen only with dumb luck. But that dome was directly linked to its creator.

With a brief shout, Naruto hit the wall at a precise point right in front of him. The strike releases all the energy he gathered in his hands in the form of disrupting chakra. It traveled with enhanced speed toward the big guy, entering his body from his palms. As if he just had received an enormous electric discharge, he flew back in the air a few meters, falling back on the ground, seeing stars. One of his hands was burned badly.

As he painfully got up, the dome crumbled. Naruto walked out of it, unharmed. He wasn't smiling in the slightest. His mask of the loyal servant was back on.

He suddenly dashed ahead, pummeling his adversary with taijutsu. Jirobo, seeing no opportunities or openings to strike back, used one of Naruto's attacks to jump back. He was getting bruised a lot but it was all superficial damage. He called out no technique but strange marks began to wave and expand on his body. In no time, his whole skin was crawling with them before they settle down.

"Haha! We'll see how you fare against the power of the seal given to me by Orochimaru-sama! If you think you can handle it, don't worry! I've still got two more level left!"

The Sound ninja attacked under Naruto's unbelieving glare. Was he that stupid? That seal only made him stronger. It was evident as no changes in speed occured. Does he think that would help him? Naruto would teach him a lesson. Anyway, they were doing this to stall. As well make it worthwhile.

He let the man take the offensive. That didn't mean that he would let him touch him. He was easily reading the man's attack a few moves ahead. He only had to look at his obvious muscles play to know exactly what kind of attack was coming next. The Sound Four did gain some speed. His injuries seemed to have mostly healed. Even his burned hand looked better. After a minute of moving the air around his enemy, Jirobo lost his smile. Why could he not touch him? He wasn't that fast! He could not guess that Naruto was reading him like an opened book... The angrier he got, the easier it was. The time came for the counter-strike.

On a wide right hook going down on his head, Naruto grabbed the wrist, twisted it hard and, using the momentum of the huge men, grabbed him by the collar with his other hand and threw him over his shoulder. That was a beginner move, but when you're caught in it, the result's the same. The impact of the man on the far wall was great enough to shake the ground. Naruto was impressed. If it worked that well, it's because he used his enemy's strength against him. He would have to be careful not to be caught by those fists.

The bald man fell from the wall where he was imbedded upside down. He woke up slowly, but his eyes gained clarity as the seal got thicker all over his body.

'Level two' though Naruto.

The man's eyes were pits of rage. His injuries, since Naruto was sure to have broken his wrist, seemed lessen once again. He charged with enhanced speed toward the blond. Once again, the changes must have been mostly in strength. Naruto concentrated slightly and saw every step his enemy took in his straight, dead run. He was creasing the ground under his feet, howling like a hurt animal. Naruto was curious to see what the level three would be like.

'Let's find out!'

The large man was about to tackle his young adversary but, for once, it was a feint. He let out a devastating right uppercut. Naruto had seen it coming from the moment he had closed his fist. As the monstrous tightly closed hand moved the air right where his chin was a moment ago, he grabbed the hand, his finger digging deep in the flesh, and, with his left fist, threw his own uppercut, hitting him right under the elbow. Jirobo's eyes went wide as he saw his arm bent backward at an awkward angle. He let out a scream, taking a step back. The sound of his voice was quickly drowned in the noise of the three huge fireballs that hit him in rapid succession. Once again, he was throw back. He didn't made it to the wall this time.

The mass of fire exploded with a burst of chakra and the ninja, his appearance totally different, stood with his arm back at its original place. It didn't seem to be totally healed though. He had trouble flexing it. Naruto could have rip off his arm, so weak he had made it by striking in that exact point. But he wanted to prove something, and to do that, now he attacked. He even hoped that the injury on the arm would not make that much of a difference.

Naruto started by walking toward his enemy, gained speed and ended up running full speed, both arm down at his sides. Jirobo began to be wary of him. Seeing him get so interested while he just got at his strongest form did nothing to comfort him. Naruto went for a grabbing attack and Jirobo answered by locking hands with him. He had the advantage of weight and height. And strength. Naruto's face was strained for the first time since the start of the fight. He was trying his hardest to push back his enemy. The Sound ninja was grinning now. He had to go full throttle, but he found the limit of that little punk! There was an end to what his smaller muscles could do. Naruto's gears, in his head, were turning slowly, all his concentration bent on hardening every fiber of his being against the brute force of the monster. Then, he took a part of his breath he was holding in to utter something.

"Eighty-five… percent," the blond muttred.

"What are you saying… little punk?"

The monster of muscles was straining too as even if he was pushing his adversary down, it took all he had and was doing so slowly. He was distracted enough so that Naruto could talk and stop the crushing advance of Jirobo.

"I'm at… eighty-five percent of you total strength. That's not so bad, since that's your specialty. I know it doesn't change the result of this particular contest but I have a secret to tell you…"

Naruto let his head bent closer to the older ninja who bent down at his turn instinctively to hear the incoming whisper.

"I'm wearing weights…"

The ninja, surprised, was caught totally off guard as Naruto gave up. In fact, he pulled the pushing machine to the ground, on top of him, but not before putting both his foot on his chest. He rolled with the move and pushed his feet to the maximum his short legs could. All of this could be missed if you blinked at the wrong moment. Jirobo flew high but took control in mid-flight this time. He landed on his feet, crouched down, facing his blond adversary. This later was already up and ready to resume.

After the slow contest of strength, the fight started anew at a higher level of speed. Naruto summoned a flock of birds that were sent to annoy Jirobo to no end. Before they got to him though, the muscle men slammed the ground with both hands, causing a small earthquake that sent Naruto tumbling on the broken battleground. He could not even run now, so uneven was the place.

The Sound ninja stroke at the birds with all his speed, getting numerous cut in the process. Any normal ninja would have been bleeding profusely from multiple wounds by now. He was barely getting superficial injuries. As he got rid of the last flying summon, he looked for his enemy, weary to get hit or by some jutsu to lit him up again. The birds had been flying mainly in front of his eyes, blocking any view of his surrounding. How could he have seen the moved earth on the already broken floor?

Two hands shot from the ground, a kunai in each. A single strike from each of them cut the tendon on the back of his ankles. Jirobo, nothing else keeping his feet balanced, fell face first on the floor. On any other day, his reaction would have surprised his adversary and might have given him the element of surprise. His hands shot in front of him and managed to lift him upside down. He was ready to inflict some serious damage with his still working legs. Unfortunately, it neared his face to Naruto's fist as he shot out of the ground from under Jirobo. He rose up, putting always more power in his hand that was glowing a fierce blue.

The Sound ninja's head went sideway as the fist buried in his face. The neck finally gave up and snapped as the punch was driving him further, lifting him from the ground.

Naruto landed back on the ground as the body hit the floor, unmoving. The victorious, panting, put his hands back in the baggy, white pockets of his shorts and jumped to Sasuke's side.

"Took you long enough," he scolded him.

"Sorry," Naruto answered, head down.

"My, my! Sasuke! Learn to congratulate your servant! It was a nice match! Very entertaining!" Orochimaru chimed, delighted.

Sasuke raised his shoulder and slowly walked toward the middle of the arena.

"Look what became of the floor! If you had defeated him faster…" -sigh-"I guess it was stronger than you. You had to see him at his full strength. I don't have much of a choice but to do the same now."

Tayuya went down in front of him, a flute in her hand.

"And I've got to get the weakest," Sasuke groaned. "Just great. Kunoichi's strong point is in bed. Why don't they get it yet?"

The girl was getting red from shame and anger. She was shaking and gripping her instrument so hard her knuckles were white. The fact that her own abilities in hand-to-hand combat were low did help to fuel the fire.

"So what, are you gonna play me a lullaby? A song so bad I'll give up in pain? Those are your best chances," mocked Sasuke.

"I'LL MAKE YOU EAT THOSE WORDS!" the musicien yelled, having had enough.

Her seal, fuelled by her anger, covered her form from head to toe in the blink of an eye. She put her flute to her lips and began her melody on a long, dragging note.

It ended with a snap. Sasuke's arm was still raised from the throw, a little sore by the amount of chakra he put in it to boost his move. The kunai broke the flute in two, entered the kunoichi's mouth and got out by the back of her head. It stuck the wall behind her even before the body had the time to land on the ground.

"Humpf. If her fighting skill is her best talent, I'm glad I never bedded her," the Uchiha mumbled.

Orochimaru, for the first time in a very long time, was struck speechless. Of course, he could have done the same, without the addition of chakra enhanced speed. The flute would not even have had the time to reach her lips. But he was torn between the awe of the simple, quick death and the fact that this was one of his strongest kunoichi that have just been killed. He spent some time on her… to power her up, of course.

"I though you would make this one last, Sasuke-kun?" said Orochimaru with an even tone.

"I changed my mind," he replied.

The Uchiha got back at Orochimaru's side by the wall, seemingly oblivious of the conflicting emotion of the snake master. The Sanin quickly found back his greater motivation though: he needed that boy!

"My, my, Sasuke. You still could have made the fun last a little longer!"

"This one would have been no fun. Next!"

Sasuke was playing a dangerous game. He knew it. But he had no choice. This guy was intelligent enough to see if they acted odd or not. He was supposed to be an impatient and capricious orphan. He could not make it look like he was taking his time, dragging it as much as he could. That would have been suspect. He probably cut the time he would have left by twenty-five percent, but he was sure not to be discovered before the end. He would have to trust in Naruto to make his fight last longer, and to make the most of the last fight himself.

On the other side, Kidomaru and Sukon were still staring in shocked anger. How could that duck-haired punk possibly defeat her that fast? A mere child! They began to understand what kinds of ninja were chosen by their master. And that one was in full bloom. Still, he just, with his blond pet, killed two of their trusted teammate. They would pay. Dearly.

Naruto was back on the arena floor. His face never changed from his resigned obedience. His adversary was slowly making his way into the arena, his skin covering itself with strange markings. Cursed seals. They seemed to be different for each of them. He was at the first stage. Then, they began to change again, taking more and more space on his skin. The fight didn't even begin that he was at stage two! He still must be quite confident in his own capabilities to stay at that stage. It didn't matter to his leaf opponent. He was there to waste some time anyway.

Naruto just stood there, waiting for him to move. His adversary was doing the same.

"Are you coming or what?" asked Naruto.

"Why don't you cross the distance between us, Blondie?" piped back the hunchback ninja.

"You scared?"

"Just careful."

"Same thing here."

Damn. Now it would be suspicious if he waited anymore. He could still make fun of him.

"Brace yourself, here I come!" called out Naruto.

The sound ninja crouched down as his adversary started to move toward him. Then got back at the resting position as Naruto... walked toward him.

"What are you doing?"

"Why waste energy in getting to you if you already know I am?" the blond shrugged.

If it wasn't befitting of his position, Orochimaru would have sweatdropped. Sasuke was simply looking up, doing his best not to laugh, or to make it show he wanted to. Naruto stopped just out of arm length.

"I'm here. So… we hit it off with taijutsu or…"

"JUST ATTACK YOU DIMWIT!"

At least, he got his wish granted. Naruto made a sudden strike in the form of his chopping hand toward his enemy's arm. It would hinder him a while and force him to switch to the third level eventually. It was not to be. A third hand came from his back and blocked the strike with a kunai. Naruto drew back his bloody hand and jumped back, eyeing him critically.

"HAHAHAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa… Have you seen his face, Ukon? It was priceless!" said Sakon.

"I could not, dear brother, since my face is in your back," said the mouth in his back belonging to the one named Ukon.

"Right! You missed something!"

The mystery of the 'third hand party' was solved there. There were two bodies in front of him.

"Hey! That's not fair! This is supposed to be a one-on-one battle!" whinned Naruto.

"Do you feel underhanded, Naruto-kun?" practically purred the snake master.

"No… but…" hesitated Naruto.

"Then get back at it, you idiot! If you can't even beat him, I'll have to reconsider keeping you at my side!" finished Sasuke, looking frustrated with him.

Naruto looked hurt and panicked. The hunchback ninja hissed low. Just what he needed. More motivation for his enemy. He didn't show it, but the strike really took him by surprise. He chose not to wait for him to attack this time.

"Brother, we take the offenssive now."

The Sound ninja dashed toward the ex-Leaf villager. He struck hard with a kunai, trying to make an opening for his brother to score a hit. Naruto backed down and began circling the arena under Sakon's assault. The angles by which the parasitic brother could attack were always the same. It was so very predictable. As soon as his guard was shifted far to the left, he would attack from a low right stab, and vice versa. At those occasions, Naruto simply had to roll around his own guard, the attack barely grazing the fabric of his shirt. Then he jumps left or right to avoid Sakon's attempt at taking advantage of his momentary blind spot.

The Sound nin was tired of moving the air around that slippery kid. He knew now why Jirobo had so much trouble simply to follow him around. He had to find a way to take advantage of his numeral superiority! Of course! Ninjutsu!

The dual fighter feint left and ran back instead of jumping. He started making hands seals. Naruto started to make some of his own. He was not a beginner in that field. But then the ninjutsu effect began even before Sakon finished making his seals! How was this even possible? Naruto saw the wall of vibrating air come his way as he finished his Grand Fireball.

The two technique collided with a bang, the technique of the twin ninja being a moving wall of compressed sound. Naruto's fireball dissipated all around. Then, the weakened moving wall struck Naruto. The strength was average now and so were the damages. But the noise by itself was maddening! As he fell on the floor, Naruto's ears were buzzing and he felt warm liquid trickle down of them. He would hear nothing good for the next few minutes, the time it heals. He understood what happened. The ninjutsu didn't leave before he had finished his hand seals: it was Ukon that unleashed that attack on him! He was sure he dissipated the wall with his fireball. Probably did he. Then the same technique got him as Sakon sent it on him.

Naruto took more time than he wanted to get up. His enemy was on him once more. He managed to grab the arm that attacked him with a kunai. He knew what was coming. The twin in his back would stab him, over his brother's left shoulder this time. He took a chance. In his left hand, he formed what would become his trademark move. The small, compressed and rotating ball of chakra struck Sakon right as Ukon was grazing his hair with a knife. The hit, dead center on the sternum, pushed him back hard as Naruto let go of Sakon's arm. It even lifts him up in the air a little. The kunai barely scratched Naruto, right on a whisker mark.

The Sound enemy landed hard on the uneven ground. He got his balance back after a few painful rolls. His features changed again, giving him the face of a demon. He was now of a dark shade of reddish-brown, with pointy chin and horns. His voice got lower as he growled.

"I knew I would get to change like this, but hoped not," he said angrily.

"If you knew you would," argued Naruto who got his hearing back slowly, "...you should have done it from the start. It would have saved us all a lot of time. And probably some pain on your part."

The demon-faced man hissed loudly. That kid was grinding his nerves into fine powder!

"That's enough! We'll see how you like it when we strangle you with your own hands!"

Naruto frowned. Seeing that dual body shift weirdly in front of him, he lost all interest in a taijutsu match. He preferred to finish this faaaaaaaaaaar away from this jelly-like guy. He could use a new trick. It would be neat if it worked. If not… well he got other tricks. He bit his thumb, letting a few drop of blood flow and made the seal for his summoning technique.

"Kuchuyoji no jutsu!"

A very small explosion appeared in mid-air right under his hand, no larger than it. The smoke cleared, revealing… a hummingbird. The small volatile was beating his wings fast enough for a light humming sound to be heard. It was heard from everyone, since no one said a word. Even Orochimaru had his mouth slightly agape. For once, so did Sasuke's.

The weird Siamese brother's eyes were wide open. He started to shake. It started with the shoulders, than the chest, and finally the legs. He could not control it any longer. He fell to the floor, laughing.

"BWAAAAHAHAHAAAAAAAA! Stop this! Get rid of it! You'll make me die of laughter! Man! This is the lamest attempt at summoning I ever saw!"

Sasuke put his face in his opened palms, but behind them, he was smirking. That Naruto! He always had a way to get underestimated by the enemy. Sasuke never doubted the chakra control Naruto have. If he summoned a hummingbird, it was a hummingbird he wanted. He took back to watching the fight, putting on an exasperated face.

"Sasuke-kun?" asked Orochimaru hesitantly. "Your servant… Is he well? I mean… did he ever take a bad hit on the head?"

"Maybe one too many, but he's not _that_ dumb. Only…more like creative," he ended up sighing.

Naruto calmly put a finger on a small white dot on the bird's head. A soft glow was emitted at the junction of the man and the summon. At first, nothing happened. Then the bird seemed to... inflate. He was still flapping his wings at an incredible pace, flying stationary, a soft humming all around him. The sound grew as the bird increased in size. The devilish ninja stopped laughing. Naruto now had his whole hand on the birdie's head. He had to get in front of it, to its right, or he would not be able to get to the head anymore. The body was as big as a wolf. Naruto finally got his hand off of the bird's head. His shirt and jacket were rippled by the wind all around him, wind that could be faintly felt from anywhere in the arena. The narrow beck of the summon was over a meter and a half long now.

"You're a big boy now, Chirp," Naruto said fondly. "I bet father Chimera won't be disappointed by your ability anymore."

Chirp let a 'chirping' reply awfully high for a bird his size, and painful to the ear too.

The Sound nin didn't know how to take this new development. On one side, this was only an overgrown hummingbird. On the other… a warning chill was running down his back. But why? Why should this summon inspire so much threat?

"You see that ugly guy, Chirp? He's your practice target. Go."

The bird let out another shout that sound more like a war cry… hummingbird style. He attacked, and then the enemy ninja understood. The bird was flapping his wings a hundred time a second. On one of this size, it translated as pure speed. Instant speed, no acceleration. From still to impossible to follow. The dual ninja jumped back, and back again. From side to side, up a wall, to the ceiling, fast down on the floor, rotating in the air, kunai flashing and back on the walls. It didn't matter though. Chirp followed him, changing course in mid-flight three time before the devilized human reached his next point. He pierced him with his needle beak countless times. No simple wounds either. More like 'trough your limbs' kind of hits. He obeyed Naruto with fanatic intensity. The ninja fell on the floor, unable to keep on running. His bodily fluids were escaping from stabs everywhere on him. He was dead a few seconds later. The bird went back to Naruto, overly exited. He was making circles all around him.

"Good boy, Chirp. Next time, I'll have a treat for you," he said, managing to pet him on the head.

After a last trill, the bird went in a cloud of smoke. Naruto calmly walked back beside Sasuke, at his right.

"That was humiliating, dobe," said Sasuke, looking at the new lifeless body.

"But it worked, Aniki," replied softly Naruto.

"I'll concede you that."

"My, my…three down… only one to go. It's impressing, Sasuke-kun. I believe it is your turn. Don't be so quick this time. I would like to see some of your moves," drawled Orochimaru.

"Humm." replied Sasuke, as eloquent as ever.

The last Sound Four, who's now more like the Lone Sound, began to stress. He finally recognized the kind of adversary he was facing, despite them being smaller and younger. After three fights, neither of them were seriously injured. Naruto already seemed to be healed by some miracle. He understood better why his master was so interested. They didn't even have a curse seal! And now, he would face what looked like the stronger of the two. He would have to be serious from the start. He began to activate his cursed seal. He didn't stop until he was down at the third, final stage.

Sasuke made his way at the middle of the ruined arena, face to face to his new enemy. They stared at each other, hands to their sides, like two cowboys. The spider nin looked aggressively at his adversary. Sasuke was looking at him, seeming to wonder which way would require the least effort from his part to beat him. Knowing him, it would be the case on a normal day. This time, it was more like to figure a way to take his time the most to kill him.

Kidomaru moved first. He jumped back, spitting a substance that quickly became solid, in the form of a javelin. He hit right where Sasuke was. 'Was' being the keyword. Sasuke jumped forward at the same time his enemy jumped backward. The raven-haired boy grabbed the solid wire as it passed by and pulled hard on it. The head of the spider-man was pulled forward painfully before he managed to cut the wire.

He didn't lose his cool. He could not afford it. He had to evade from hand-to-hand combat until his enemy was tired or injured enough. That's why he scrambled far from him, since the last move got him uncomfortably close to the supposed ex-Leaf ninja. He began spitting nets of spider webs, trying to trap him or, at least, slow him down. Sasuke was jumping around lightly, quick on his feet, seemingly following an invisible course as if he knew all of his moves before he could even made them. The floor was quickly covered with thick and sticky white filaments but the boy was still finding clear spots to land and jump again. He didn't seem in any hurry to take an aggressive offensive.

The eight-membered man stuck his feet to the ceiling, some of his hands forming hand seals.

"Summoning no jutsu: Black Widow Matron!"

Sasuke stopped under him, looking up. Things were getting up a notch. A huge spider web seemed to have been spawned with the equally huge black arachnid.

"Let's see how you fare against the Mother of all Arachnid. Her, and her countless children…"

From the disproportioned belly of the beast slowly began to trickle black little irregular balls on thread of web. As they unfold, he saw more small copies of the boss summon than he cared to see. He though of a trick against that, but he would have to be quick about it. He could not afford to waste time, to hesitate even a moment.

Sasuke's hands shot forward, making wide gesture while calling his own jutsu. All forms of subtlety were forgotten.

"Katon: Fireblade!"

Sasuke spat fire like a dragon directly in both his hands extended wide over his head. The ring extended fast and was turning like a saw before the hatchling crossed half the way separating them. The circle was less than two meter wide but had visibly quite some power behind it.

'And now, for the tricky part,' though Sasuke.

He let go of the ring from his right hand and made the same hand-seals, this time putting his hand before his mouth, his thumb and index ready to channel the incoming inferno.

"Katon: Great Fireball!"

The jet of fire, pushed in a less concentrated form than usual, was sent forward. The stream of fire caught in the rotating saw and began to spiral around, and, more importantly, in the circular blade, filling it and transforming it in a three meter wide fire disk. The first spider reached it before it was totally formed. But instead of weakening it, it fuelled the fire. When the bulk of the attack reached it, Sasuke was letting go of his fireball, breathing hard. That was a lot of techniques tryout in a short amount of time, with two breath.

The Sound nin was seething. What was that? How could he do something like that? No matter. He would trap him with webs while he was busy. He would teach him never to lose your real enemy from your sight. That prooved to be a grave misunderstanding of the sharingan eye. As if a jutsu that allow you to see a few moves in the future would 'forget' something like the ninja you are facing.

As the Sound ninja jumped amongst the falling webs, between his summon and his enemy so that Sasuke would not see him coming, the Leaf ninja decided it was time to finish his attack. The smell of burned spider was getting rancid. Sasuke flexed his elbow and knees as much as he could to crouch low with the disk still in his hands. Orochimaru though during a second that he was having a hard time. He changed his mind as Sasuke sprang forward, throwing the fire conception flat on the fire summon. The Lone Sound barely managed to avoid the rampaging, rotating wall of roaring fire. He didn't without a few nice burns either.

The Mother spider wasn't that lucky. The sickening smell of grilled insect increased to an unsupportable level before it disappeared in the summon's trademark's smoke screen. The fight started anew as the spider ninja made a bow from some hard substance he seemed to vomit and some strings. The first arrow of the hard, golden substance weapon barely missed Sasuke as he turned on himself. Shots after shots of deadly projectiles zipped in the direction of the Uchiha, never getting passed him. It was as if the arrow were absorbed one after the other by the spinning, dodging form of the teen.

As the cursed seal carrier paused to figure that out, Sasuke stopped spinning, revealing the seven previous projectiles he firmly held in both his hands. Orochimaru's underling, roaring with frustration, put another arrow on his weapon and pulling on the rope, hard and far before letting the projectile fly at speed unmatched. Unmatched as in 'it still can't match the three dot sharingan eye'. Even as it left his wielder's hands, Sasuke jumped forward to meet the arrow in mid flight, caught it and sent it back like a kunai.

The long projectile went through the hand that originally let it fly and stuck to the wall, a feet behind. The man howled his pain. The second arrow, taking his right hand this time, took him by surprise more than it should have. Then came the ones that stuck in his feet and his other arms. He could not move a limb without sending a wall of pain to his brain, blocking all other senses. He stayed conscious long enough to see Uchiha Sasuke, his mortal adversary, two kunais spinning like windmills in hands, draw a perfect crossing cut aimed at his neck. He died, breathing in his own blood.

Sasuke straightened up slowly, getting his breath back. They were on borrowed time from now on. Naruto left the wall and calmly walked back to his brother, who didn't seem to know quite what to do right now.

"My, my, Sasuke-kun. That was quite a performance. I am even more impressed that I though I would be. Already so strong and skilled… I guess then that you won't be joining me and take my offer now? You surely wish to go? You want me to show you the exit?"

Sasuke was on the defensive, and so was Naruto. They knew there was no turning back. They were on his ground. What was Jiraiya doing? He must have got the message a long time ago! He had only one Sound nin blocking his way! Naruto knew he would have to do something. Anything. He went at what he was best. Pushing people's buttons.

"Say, Orochimaru-sama. What are all of those bandages for? Your fight with the Third Hokage was a while ago already. You have a medic nin right at your side! Can't he do anything right? Are the damages made by the old man so great?"

Kabuto stepped forward to teach this young impertinent a lesson. He was of no importance after all, only the true Uchiha mattered. Surprisingly, his master stopped him, in the form of a raised hand. His eyes showed his anger, and a new understanding.

"Why would you ask something like that now? When you are at a clear disadvantage… Stalling for time maybe?"

Crap. He found out. Naruto and Sasuke jumped at once on the ceiling, head down, back to back. Each of them had a kunai draw defensively and pulled hard on a steel wire on their shoulders. Heavy pieces of weight seals fell to the floor, breaking the tiles.

Orochimaru's eyes opened a little wider. They did all of this with weights on? Now _that_ was impressive. They still were no match for him though.

The Uchiha Brothers knew they were screwed. They were already dead, with their heart still beating. Delayed corpses. Only a miracle could save them now. Suddenly, Naruto's face changed. He put a hand on his short's back pocket, and smiled. Sasuke saw him and smirked at his turn. Perfect timing. They would have to last one minutes or two before the cavalry found them. They would make sure to make enough noise for that.

"I can read on your face that something friendly is coming this way," said Orochimaru. "Friendly to you. Let's see if they can get through my maze in time to save you."

The Uchiha Brothers wanted desperately to watch each other's back. The thing was: they would have their hands full with each their own adversary. They could not spend any attention to the other. They still trusted each other. They realized that the best defence here would be to take the offensive. So they attacked.

* * *

**I like ending my chapter like that. Always a good spot.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: -Standing on a stage- "Come near, come many! Look! Nothing in the hands, nothing in the sleeves! But what's in the hat!" –holding out a hat with long, snowy ears coming out- "Look kids! A snow bunny!" –pulling out Naruto of the hat with white snow bunny ears- "What the...?" –Goons from Aniplex make me drop Naruto and pull me away- "Wait! Wait! It's not mine! Somebody must have put him in there!" –Haku's bunny drop the Naruto henge and bounce away-**

* * *

Naruto decided to put away his kunai. He didn't need it for what he had in mind. He breathed deeply while taking a taijutsu stance. His hands begun to glow softly. His style would finally be put to the test against a stronger opponent. Kabuto's hands began to glow too. Naruto jumped from the ceiling right at his adversary, trying to figure out the kind of defences the medic nin possessed. The nerdy medic's moves were circular and very hard to predict. Naruto soon found out he could react to them only at the last second. He tried half a dozen straight blows, probing hard his reactions. He had to be quick at retracting his own, dodged attack not to be touched by the snake's disciple. It appear he wasn't fast enough since he got many nasty cuts on the arms. Naruto didn't need to have Sasuke's brain to realize the named Kabuto had scalpels at his fingertips. He could not land a blow. The medic's stance had holes, but the added length of his scalpels covered them. He wasn't a slowpoke either.

Naruto had to take a chance to score a decisive hit. His injuries were already closing, hissing over his skin but he knew he would get new ones. This was getting him nowhere. He had to do something drastic before his adversary decided he knew enough of his style to take out the big guns. As Naruto watched, he saw his adversary's next move clearly. The position of attack, the tensed muscles and the direction of his sight betrayed it all. It was obviously, at least to him, a feint. Probably did he expect him to dodge it to score a hit…somewhere. Well, he would have to change his plans.

* * *

Kabuto trusted forward, preparing to pierce Naruto's arm with a second attack, anticipating the blond would dodge sideway. His surprise was complete when Naruto jumped forward, practically impaling his throat on the razor edge scalpel. Blood began to pour at the same time Naruto finished his move. Using both feet to propel himself forward, he pushed on his leg to strike, both fist glowing hard, right in his adversary's stomach. He would have liked to hit higher, but the difference in height gave him the best chance of success there. The fists burrowed far in the medic nin's guts, sending him flying away. He crashed hard against the far wall, flat in it, denting it deep. He fell on both knees, coughing up blood. His shirt seemed to have exploded while his torn skin already took a red-bluish colour. He quickly put a hand glowing blue with medical chakra on it, panting hard.

Naruto had a similar posture, on one knee, but kept his head down to stop the wound from opening further. He was letting his demonic chakra do the healing. This would not stop him from sending a technique as long as he could whisper. He was still losing an important amount of blood. The fox would have to work overtime. How he hated relying on it.

Kabuto needed a decoy while he was healing. He could not let the blond take the advantage now or he would be running away injured, making it even longer to recover. He used his hands, grimacing all the while, to perform a technique. The body of one of the previously dispatched Sound Four twitched. Then he rose up, not even using his hand for support, and began walking clumsily toward them. It was the biggest body of the four. Jirobo. Kabuto resumed his healing, gasping, letting the undead underling attack at his place.

Naruto made hand seals of his own. No time to be fancy. A score of clones grouped themselves around him, weapons ready. They turned around Naruto, keeping their back close to him, but the undead body had little care for such tactics. He simply trampled them. Lots of them got dispelled, but they gave an explosive gift as they disappeared. It rocked the dead ninja enough for the rest of the clones to grapple him anywhere they could before the notes detonated. The body ended up falling, too damaged to be able to stand up. Kabuto sent snakes from his sleeve to attack Naruto, who disappeared in smoke at his turn. Kabuto summoned another snake, this one of a deep brown. He burrowed in the hard floor like a swimmer dive into water. Very soon, Naruto shot from the ground, the snake in hot pursuit. Out of the shield that the earth provided the summoned reptile, Naruto shot a rain of projectiles on him, dispelling it. Even if they aimed true, the shurikens had a difficult time getting through the hard skin. But the few that did were more than enough.

They did so just in time so that Naruto got a kick in the guts. His throat wound was barely closed that he was already getting pummelled. It was not his best fight. This time, the hit stunned him enough to keep him on the ground. Kabuto was fast on him, eager to finish the fight, but a shadow stopped him.

* * *

Sasuke started the fight by throwing a fireball on Orochimaru. He let it gain some speed and then sent a fire dragon right over it. On each side, he sent wires to keep him in place. The wires tied him up tightly and a fiery ball of fire roasted him. The mud made clone dissolved. The newly appointed Chuunin of Konoha expected something like that and jumped from the ceiling he was hanging from. He pulled hard on the control he still had over the fire dragon to call him back. The hand of Orochimaru, getting out of the place he just left, missed him by a hair. Halas, the dragon was too far when he called him back so the Sanin had time to escape the same way he came before the fire construct hit the hard stone of the ceiling.

Sasuke landed on the ground smoothly. He had to go all out. No pulled punch. No hidden technique. This was pure survival. Even experimental jutsu would have to be used against that master. Heat began to radiate from his arms. The air around him was moving in a barely visible halo. He jumped again, escaping Orochimaru's grasp that came, again, from under him. The Sanin took his whole body out this time, at a speed never seen by Sasuke before. He knew the Snake master would not use the _exact_ same trick twice so he twisted sideway in his jump, avoiding the grappling technique. Once again upside down, in mid-air, he clapped his hand together once. A flame, small but incandescent, left his fingers at bullet speed. It took the snake master right in the face and devoured most of the bandages there instantly. The fragile flesh under it crisped under the assault. The snake Sanin didn't have the time to make his body as resistant as it used to be. Now, he would be scarred.

Out of sheer frustration, Orochimaru threw a volley of ninja stars at Sasuke. The Leaf Chuunin was way to close to avoid any of them. He received three in the legs, two in the arms and four across the chest. Despite his rage, Orochimaru remembered to keep him alive. He avoided hitting any vital spots. Once back on the ground after a painful landing, Sasuke painfully pulled at the projectiles embedded in his body, letting some blood flow. It was not the time to care for that. He charged at the snake master before the real pain could catch up with him. That proved to be a mistake. The Uchiha sent a rotating kick that was caught in mid-flight. Orochimaru jumped, Sasuke's foot still firmly in hand and smashed him against the ceiling before throwing him back on the floor. The Uchiha tried to cushion his fall only to break an arm in the process. He screamed from the unexpected pain while his heating jutsu wore off, his concentration broken. Orochimaru shook off the burns he got from touching Sasuke's fire aura rather easily.

Sasuke transformed his pain in rage out of pure despair. He made one-handed seals for a jutsu he never tried before. Sasuke slammed his valid hand on the floor, pushing deep in the ground as if it was only mud. A gigantic stone hand shot from the ceiling and grabbed Orochimaru at the throat from behind.

Instead of trying to pull himself free, the kinjutsu master used an unknown earth technique on the stone hand that was trying to pull his head off. A snapping sound was heard and the stone hand turned to gravel. Sasuke hissed as he pulled out a bloody hand from the ground. He was getting way too much injuries and nor giving enough. He would lose all initiative if it kept on like this.

The snake Sanin disappeared again, in a wall this time. Four replicas stood around Sasuke. After a light laugh, they engaged him with taijutsu. Sasuke knew that strategy well. Tire the injured enemy with hand to hand combat and he'll fall to the ground from lack of energy. He stood defensively, his sharingan giving him the chance to avoid most of the hits. But even then, more so then he liked to admit, he had to choose the lesser strike to take. They were only mud clone, but with a broken arm, a bloody hand that would barely make hand seals, and the fact that even a portion of this particular enemy's power was challenging, he was not having a good time. On top of that, his legs began to shake. After a particularly nasty combo of kicks where he got thrown from a clone to an other, he finally went down. They all jumped at once to immobilize him.

A twin, white whirlwind crossed the room and took out two clones in a flash. The two that were left got trampled by a rolling mass. Kiba and Choji entered the dance.

* * *

Jiraiya erupted in the room where his protégé was fighting a losing battle. He managed to gather a team of special Genins before he left. Having more people with him meant that he could cover more ground. Especially with a Hyuga in the team. Neji didn't lose a second and activated his Byakugan once again.

"Jiraiya-sama! To your left, five meters ahead, in the wall!"

The Toad Sanin propelled himself forward and thrust a rasengan right in the stone wall. His ex-teammate went out of it before getting minced in thin layers. Orochimaru landed on the ground, finishing a summoning seal. A tsunami of snakes appeared and threatened to swarm them. Shikamaru had to let go of his technique, freeing Kabuto he trapped in his shadow replication to get out of the slithering mass's way. Had he known what would happen, he would have taken his chances with the snakes. Kabuto, free of his movements once again, jumped at his master's side, throwing three kunai in Naruto's still form. They burrowed effortlessly in the young ninja's body without a sound in the surrounding cacophony. The hissing snakes even drowned Sakura's helpless scream at Jiraiya's side.

Kabuto began summoning snakes too, some that could crawl up the wall to surround their enemies. Neji used his Kaiten to protect his friend who had retreated back behind the Toad Sanin. To counter Orochimaru's swarming menace, Jiraiya summoned two oversized frogs that barely fit in the décor. They swatted the offending reptiles with their tongue and got even with the nature's ways by eating a good deal of them. For something from this plane to eat a summon, it would be like swallowing smoke. But for a summon to eat an other…

Orochimaru, tired of this, pulled a hidden lever. A huge trap opened right under the rescue team. This time, it was Choji's turn to react. He dove right below his companions, toward the spiked bottom of the deep hole.

"Multisize no jutsu!"

Jiraiya never though he would be saved from a trap by a Genin who would inflate enough to totally plug a traphole. Choji's face showed the spikes below were quite painful on his behind, but he held on. Choji was supporting his team on his shoulders, literally. Neji could not use his Kaiten anymore, afraid to hurt Choji. Kiba decided it was his turn to fight the remaining rampaging menace and gave a soldier pill to Akamaru. The dog let out a deep growl as his fur turned a deep shade of red, as his name implied. Master and beast took the job back at beating off the snakes, filling the void Neji left with sheer ferocity. With a skilled opponent, he would not be able to compensate Neji's skill but those were mindless summons.

Jiraiya was getting restless. His pupil was dying in a pool of his own blood at the other side of the room and he was stuck here, blocked by a tide of reptiles. The other Genins didn't seem to have noticed the kunai in the prone form of Naruto. The attack was so fast and fluid there was a good chance they didn't even see it, except for Sakura who was currently in panic. He though she would be the greatest help amongst them… but how could he blame her? He was facing the ninja he had been hunting for years and was hoping to get out of there with Naruto in tow fast enough to have the time to help him. Jiraiya made a string of seals and kicked the left wall with his foot. The tall stone construction was cleanly cut on all its length and simply fell to the ground, making a second floor with the snakes crushed under it. It would have landed on the inflated ninja under them too if his comrade didn't join their effort to destroy the dangerous parts in mid-fall. On their side, Kabuto simply cut the wall as it descended on him and Orochimaru before kicking the menacing portion of wall back in place.

The snakes were finally crushed, blew away or eaten by toads, cleaning the way between the Toad Sanin and the Snake one. Sasuke managed to limp toward them, avoiding snakes and falling rocks thanks to his sharingan. His only chance at rescuing Naruto would be to get out of the way for the freash Leaf ninja to push Orochimaru away. Jiraiya watched, helpless, as his nemesis activated lazily another lever on the right wall. The whole complex began to shake and a door opened behind him. He quickly summoned three bigger reptiles to cover his escape and delay them from helping the dying blond. Or dying he though he was.

As Orochimaru was making his way out, he felt a new chakra signature. He turned back, curious, to see where the spiking, monstrous and evil energy came from.

Naruto was getting up clumsily, as if using his body for the first time. The kunais fell to the floor and crimson smoke escaped from his back and throat. He was covered with red and thick chakra, dripping off of him as if he had been dipped in it. Orochimaru randomly noticed the boy must have grown a little since his clothes were tighter on him and ripped at some joints due to his hunched posture. He had long fingers, ended by long, curvy claws. Even his ears seemed to be replaced by two insanely long fox ears, currently bent backward. But all of this was a simple background for the main feature.

His face.

The demon.

The dementedly long, thin and sharp teeth were inches far passed his lips, making it impossible for him to totally close his demently wide mouth. The tongue, cut in the middle, with which he could have wiped his forehead with, was running over his sharp dentition, enjoying the cuts he got and spilling more blood over his lips. His eyes had tripled in dimension, totally red except for the black, vibrating, needle point sized pupil. The tension in his face showed muscles and veins impossible on a human, or even an animal, face. The low, deep growl was loud enough for everyone to hear in the complex, remembering the sound of thunder created by the Kyubi's tails when they levelled mountains… like the two chakra tails that grew behind him. From Orochimaru's temple, a cold sweat ran down.

"Kabuto, let's go."

He ran, as if he had the devil on his tail. It was only one of his demons, but still. He seriously considered sacrificing Kabuto to assure his own survival. He passed the corridors like a gust of wind and ordered Kabuto to take another path. What caused those changes in the boy?

* * *

Naruto woke up. He was in a half-lit passageway. The black stones that made the walls, held in place by orange mortar, seemed strange to him, even if it seemed to fit the place. It was all strangely familiar, as if he should know this place. The floor would have been pearly white if it had a little more light. He heard a noise. He started to walk toward it, wondering if he was victim of a powerful genjutsu. Somehow, he knew this was not the case. After going through a small, unused door, he got in the biggest room he ever been in. A sturdy iron gate, ironically held shut by a paper seal, was standing tall before an inaccessible part of the room. When he saw the massive, lurking form behind the bars, he understood this was no illusion, no dreams. He was walking a path in his own soul. This was the limitation in which the Kyubi was held prisoner. He could not stop a primal fear to grab hold of him, even knowing the beast could not do a thing to him. As long as he stayed on this side, of course.

It didn't help when the demon sent a paw between the bars and stopped short two feet from him, slashing his sharp claws in the air. Naruto could have pissed himself. Despite this, he said the first thing that came to mind.

"Aren't you supposed to be bigger?"

The demonic beast stopped its play and started to laugh.

"You're dying kid! That's why you're here, insect!"

"So? What is it to you?"

"Your death would be most…unwelcome right now. I would rather like for you to stay alive. Don't think anything beyond that, pathetic excuse of a life form. I reserve your death for myself. I have to intervene here because you can't even win such a low level fight with the likes of…"

"I refuse."

The Kyubi paused in his monologue about Naruto's insignificance.

"What?"

"I refuse. You've got nothing for me. Chakra? I already have more than twice the amount an average ninja can produce. If I keep on my training and live long enough, people will wonder who of us two had more. My control is Jonin level. You… are a beast. Maybe you're intelligent like this, but without a host, you are nothing else than an overpowered animal. You know no jutsus. You know nothing of the human world that could help me. You're giving me a faster healing rate? Big deal. And thanks a lot, it helped me a _load_ back there. I'm dying? Move your ass and cure me faster. I'll take care of the rest. You can't do shit."

The room shook from the barely contained fury of the nine tail demon. He was staring down at his jailor, his head pressing hard against the bar. Naruto was matching his stare with one of his own, knowing somehow he was right. The demon was twisting its head against the bars, always trying to get closer to him, knowing perfectly he could not pass the kekkai the Yondaime trapped him in.

"Ooooooooh… You are … smart… are you?"

The demon began to radiate sickly red energy.

"You are right. I know no jutsu. Those pathetic techniques are NOTHING compared to my POWER!"

His voice took a more growling, booming and violent tone if possible.

"I can't teach you ANYTHING! I'm only an ANIMAL!"

The whole room seemed to bath in an ethereal red glow, fighting the black and orange wall.

"You who are so coooooool and detached…"the bijuu began to drawl, a sense of imminent dread raising the hairs on Naruto's neck.

He was way passed scared. He was bathing in his own sweat of terror. What did he think when he provoqued the most powerful bijuu in existence trapped in his guts?

"I'll give you my RAAAGE!"

Naruto felt the chakra and the animosity contained within it flood from the cage and swept his sanity away. The remaining of his mind that could remember anything learned one thing: the trill of a ninja's hunt is nothing compared to the one of a pure, evil carnage of a bijuu.

* * *

Jiraiya had much to do. He knew that the best laid plan always go to waste. Right now, he didn't even have one! So, naturally, everything went to hell. He barely managed to get everyone out of the activating traps before the building collapsed. Sasuke, for once, looked worried. The changes in Naruto's behaviour were more than enough to break his indifferent facade. Once out of the tunnels, Neji strained his Byakugan, trying to find any kind of traces leading to Kabuto or Orochimaru that would lead them to Naruto. He gave up searching around and looked back inside the ruined building instead. He had to blink his eyes hard. The residual traces of demonic chakra were enough to give him one hell of a headache! He endured and followed it, pushing his vision further down the tunnel, following it until he was sure that the direction would not change.

"Senin-sama, this way," said Neji, pointing north.

"I'd give my right hand for these eyes of yours sometimes," Jiraiya said thankfully.

"If we can find Naruto, safe and sound, in a normal state, they're yours for the taking."

Jiraiya looked at him from the corner of his eyes only to see a strained, serious face. That Uzumaki kid sure had some friends…

Meanwhile, Orochimaru was still running at breakneck speed. He was deeply ashamed. On any other normal day, he would have taken on the challenge with glee. With his usual, enhanced state. Right now, he had no other choice than to run. He went through the jail part of the compound, Kabuto hot on his heel again. The demonic blond didn't take the bait earlier, easily recognizing the most interesting prey. Kabuto had no other choice then to get back to his master in hope to be useful to him in some way. The detour by the jail his master took gave him the chance to catch up.

Without slowing down, the diminutive Sanin opened all the cells, freeing the results of his wretched experiments. That was where he usually got his canon fodder ninjas. They should delay that thing following him long enough.

After some more running along the tunnels he could have went through blindfolded, he reached the exit. He paused, taking his breath back. Wow! When was the last time he had to run for his life like that? Kabuto had his hands on his knees, breathing hard. They would have to leave soon. Maybe even leave a few booby traps for him to munch on…

Orochimaru's head snapped back to the exit they just left. What had become Naruto just stood there. He was covered with blood and a head was hanging by its ripped throat in his mouth.

Orochimaru was pissed off. Over fifty prisoners sacrificed and he had barely the time to take a breather! What a waste of resources! He faced the demon-enhanced boy and sent his strongest killing intent. He sure felt murdurous right now! He had more than enough motivation to fuel it and paralyze half a dozen Jonin in fear. The reaction was…unexpected.

The beast let out a blood curling scream and went on its back. It was squirming and rolling on the ground. But it didn't seem in pain at all. Did he… liked it? That monster was practically having an orgasm over a rolling wave of killing intent! Orochimaru smiled, a twisted idea forming in his corrupted brain. He made a long string of seals and sent the effect on the demon spawn. It started looking left and right, delighted. He was trapped in an illusion of death, scream, torture and gore. Enough to inspire Itachi in some of his torture session. For the Kyubi's spirit, it was a form of heaven.

"Let's go, Kabuto. He should be busy a while."

"How long will it last?" asked the spectacle man, two step behind.

"Depends… One day, or until someone else find him."

Kabuto smiled, readjusting his glasses on his nose. He choose his master well.

* * *

Jiraiya was looking for anything to make his day better. They had destroyed Orochimaru's complex but may have lost one of the most spirited ninja of Konoha to the greatest threat the village had known since its foundation: the Nine Tails. Was the price worth the gain? Of course not! Orochimaru had tons of hideout. Even if it was his main one, Jiraiya saw Naruto at his place, in a couple of decades. Maybe even sooner, and above his own level! His chakra abilities would elevate him even above the two last Uchiha geniuses alive. He didn't have any of their brains, nor did he have the planning gift that Hatake Kakashi possessed, but he had the aura of one destined to do great things. He had the spirit of Fire Country burning strong, consuming his enemy and warming soothingly his friends, family and allies. So much like his father, dead before his time. He would not let the son of Minato fare the same fate.

The Hyuga prodigy activated his Dojutsu only to deactivate it at once, groaning in pain.

"Ha!… I… found him, Jiraiya-sama. He finally stopped."

He could have kissed that kid. As Neji kept his Byakugan off, he guessed the demonic glow was too much to look at, even from afar. They would have to be cautious not to be caught in the crossfire. With any luck, they would help him defeat Orochimaru and then… He guessed they would have to subdue him somehow.

They got in a clearing with the strangest sight ever. The demonic form of Naruto seemed to have a day at the beach, running around and slashing at imaginary enemies. He suddenly stopped. He looked around, confused and angry. Then he spotted them. Jiraiya wasn't slow on the uptake. He must have been in a genjutsu and their presence cancelled it. The Kyubi would blame them from spoiling his fun. He didn't want to know what 'fun' was for him but the problem was whole. They had a pissed demon on their hands.

The Sanin grimaced. Naruto wasn't able to distinguish friend from foe in that state. He would beat and tear the Genin team at his side into a bloody pulp. Sasuke wasn't in shape to help him either.

"Stay back!"

Jiraiya had to contain him. Even if it mean to trap himself with a demon. He called out a technique and the whole troop saw the ground all around the senior ninja and the possessed Naruto take a reddish, fleshy color. It rose in the air and trapped them both in a living, summoned prison. The stomach of a giant toad.

Sasuke sat down, helpless, looking at the technique keeping his brother prisoner. They all looked at each other, searching for something to do. Neji helped Sakura putting Sasuke's arm in place. Shino provided bandage out of nowhere and Kiba, some short sticks to keep the arm steady. It would have to do until they found someone with medical abilities. Smoke seemed to seep from the top of the stomach and some flames erupted at random locations all over it. The summoned cage held on. Ten minutes later, unexpected help came. Tsunade, the fifth Hokage herself, got on the scene, worried about the 'rescue mission'.

"Where is the old pervert?" she asked moodily.

Neji looked at the gastric construct that was almost bouncing on itself.

"Is Orochimaru in there with him? Did he think he could take him on alone?" she asked, unbeleiving.

Sakura shook her head.

"He fled. It's…"

But she could not end her sentence.

"He's with my brother," Sasuke said, deadly calm. "The demon took over him after Naruto received a critical hit."

The other Genin looked at him curiously. Injuries? When did that happen?

Sometime, a noise is noticed only when it stops. It was the case here with the muffled sound of a battle. The clearing went silent, as no more fighting noises came from the summoned stomach. It started to dissolve and Tsunade stood ready to take care of anything that would get out. They could not see Naruto nor Jiraiya until the toad stomach completely disappeared. They were both laying on the ground. Naruto was beaten, bruised and bloody. Jiraiya was worst.

They all ran to the pair, feeling guilty to put so much attention on the guy with the enhanced healing factor while Jiraiya was bleeding pint after pint. Tsunade walked robotically to him, head thrown back and eyes wide. So much blood! He was covered with it!

"Hey…" said Jiraiya weakly, looking at Tsunade. He was holding his badly torn stomach together. "I was making peace with the world but it look like it'll have to bear with me a little longer!" -cough-cough- "Come on! Let these hands work their magic!" he said jokingly, wincing continually.

He began to worry as Tsunade made no moves to get closer.

"Tsunade… Come on…This is not funny. I'm in real trouble here."

"So… So much… blood… so much…"

Jiraiya's eyes frowned earring this.

"You still haven't got rid of your fear of blood?"

Everyone else stared at her unbelievingly. Their Hokage, the greatest medic nin they have ever heard of, was afraid of blood? How did it come to that? Jiraiya closed his eyes a moment and grimaced.

"Come… on! Tsunade! You can do this! You know… perfectly well that these deaths were not your fault! You were sincere when you gave him that necklace! A shinobi life is a risky one. They… they would have been killed either way…" -cough-cough- "Hurry up! I'm really on the verge of passing here!"

Tsunade knell down beside him, shaking like a leaf, her hand hovering over Jiraiya's hardly breathing form. She was clearly remembering something painful as her glossed eyes looked over him. Jiraiya looked calmer with every seconds, as if he was okay with whatever his ex-teammate would choose to do, or not do. His next words were spoken in an even, deep voice, like the candle that glow brighter before going out.

"Tsunade-chan. Don't make this another of your painful memories, another time where you could not help a loved one. If you do… only remember that I forgive you."

Unable to keep the effort any longer, Jiraiya gave up, letting his eyes closed, and a last deep breath.

Tsunade, her eyes coming back to the present, panicked. Her hands shot to his abdomen, glowing from a fierce green glow that encompassed his whole body. Jiraiya kept his eyes close despite this, but for another reason. His body jerked back and tensed, reaction to the sudden, heavy treatment.

"AAAAAAARrrrrrrrrrrrgggg! Come on! I said I would forgive you! That doesn't mean you have to finish me off!"

"SHUT UP! I'm concentrating! If you can't even win a brawl with a newly appointed Chuunin, you deserve to be remembered the consequence of losing!" she shrieked to his face.

"You old hag…" he grumbled, his teeth gritting.

Tsunade twisted her hands swiftly, causing another pained groan from the Sanin.

"Sorry there, Oh great Toad Hermit! Your intestine seemed to have been touched! I had to follow a curve!"

"Bite me!" Jiraiya hissed.

"Don't tempt me! I won't do it simply because I would be the one to heal it afterward!"

The sweatdropping Genins, and Sasuke, were listening to the banter for a good thirty minutes. The time it took to heal most of the damage done.

* * *

Naruto woke up in a pearl white room. He hated that kind of room. The unfamiliar bed only remembered him of that fateful day he woke up an orphan. Again. He looked at the bed in face of his, a little to the right. As expected, Sasuke was there, nursing his own wounds.

"He. Nice to see you there. It brings back bad memories," Naruto said weakly, finding his voice back gradually.

"I know. I chose that bed on purpose."

Naruto looked at him questionably. He knew Sasuke would not do so in vain. He stayed silent, alert for his next words.

"I want you, and myself, to remember why we're doing this for. We train to be the best here. We need to be the best against anybody, anywhere. We have to think of new, almost surreal way to get stronger and use the old methods to the extremes. We saw, against Orochimaru and his goons, that we have to move past the goal we set for ourselves. We've got speed, strength and control. But not enough. We've got to specialize too. We have to develop. All that and keeping the power training on. Fuck Orochimaru, he's not even on the list. He was barely an eye opener. Our goal is fairly stronger."

Naruto laid back on his pillows, eyes on the ceiling.

"I disagree."

Sasuke, who was already looking at him, stared at him expectantly. His brother would not openly defy him like this without his own good reasons.

"That guy, at his present level, would have beaten Itashi to a bloody mess when he was our age. Forget it. We are stronger then Itashi was at this age. Or at least, on the same level. That snake dude is… like... five tor six time our age. He was the teammate of the one who trained my father, the Fourth Hokage, when he was young. We're on the right track. We're better then he was. We have a life. We won't give up on it to train. We'll do as you said, but we won't necessarily _add_ it to the training we already have. We'll have to make choices. We can't have it all. We're not facing him off tomorrow. But we'll get there. I promise."

It was Sasuke's turn to drop on his pillow. He didn't want to sacrifice anything he was training in! He saw the results! But Naruto was right.

Naruto eventually had the permission to leave. Sasuke, having been treated earlier but lacking the Kyubi to help, would be discharged only later, after that evening test if they showed everything was back in places.

Naruto followed the corridors, thinking of how different they were from the ones he discovered in his head. He finally got to Haku's room. His treatment was far more complex than any of their's, since he came from an extinct clan. Thankfully, Tsunade was a true specialist. She would be more useful now that the medics would not have to hide the smallest drop of blood on his bandages.

Haku looked so… weak. So feminine. Despite him being about three years older, Naruto looked at him like his little brother. The Ice user had a few tubes running along him, disappearing under the snow white skin of his frail arms. Was that the boy so full of life around the house? The ex-missing nin that was so intense and strict in training? Was it their entire fault, for leading such a dangerous life, that he was in that state even after giving up his shinobi life?

Naruto walked backward to the wall and let himself slide on the bunk attached to it. He put his head in his hands. He felt like crying again, this time for real. He managed to take a few deep breaths and was in good progress to put back his mask again. He heard a little flapping sound, the kind that hospital slippers makes. He paid it no heed. That, until a hand squeezed his shoulder gently. Naruto looked up and his mouth opened as wide as his eyes. His brain stopped, and then kick-started, trying to find a way to explain this.

Sarutobei was smiling gently, sadly at him.

"Come on, Naruto, my boy. What got you so down?"

Naruto fainted.

* * *

"He have what?" practically yelled Sakura.

Team Seven was strolling around a park of Konoha, following the peaceful path of a river. They all had their afternoon off before resuming missions. The village was still weak after Orochimaru's attack. They had to look, to the outsider's eyes, untouched. But the funniest was: they looked so good taking care of that attack that they were swarmed with missions! Meaning that team Seven would be stripped from their Jonin instructor to give him a chance to do more difficult solo missions. He would take his ANBU mask back and the captain status. They were taking what was left of their time together to catch up on the recent events. Notably, the recovery of the ex-Hokage. Naruto was still red in the eyes, having cried on his grandfather's chest for a while, telling between sobs how glad he was and how much things got complicated. But now he was back to his jovial self, the mocking mask on.

"A bloodline, Sakura. You know, when a guy and a girl with similar abilities reeeeeeeaaaaaaally like each other, they get married… found a clan… Then the birds and the bees…"

Naruto was almost getting graphic so she held up her hand.

"It's okay Naruto, I'm well aware of what you hide in your pants and how it works."

The three boys turned toward her. She blushed a little but didn't let herself be mocked.

"After reading one of Jiraiya's books from cover to cover… a few times… let's say I discovered a new side to the word 'romance'."

Naruto howled his laughing, Sasuke blushed and Kakashi was bouncing on his feet, having finally found someone to talk about his not so well hidden passion.

"Anyway, I was asking _what_ bloodline Sarutobi-sama had exactly," she resumed, getting back on topic.

"Right! The old man explained to me that he have the ability to recover from any non-mortal wound! It's a bloodline that runs in his family and pop-up, now and then. His is kinda weak, but regular. So, his body slowly recovered, by himself, from injuries that should have been permanent. He'll never be back on his level though. His body will keep on recovering until his cells get too old and are unable to duplicate and other stuff I didn't quite get. But even then, he might only get to the chakra level of a Chuunin. Maybe one of a low level Jonin. In years."

"So… What are his plans now?" asked Sasuke, smiling a little. He was glad too that the old man who helped them so much would get back on his feet. On his own on top of that!

"Lots and lots of projects! He told me that close to death like he got, you get a real eye opener! You won't believe how busy he'll keep himself!" almost shouted Naruto with glee.

"How so?" asked a curious Kakashi.

"I'm so envious of the Academy students! He's going to give a class in ninjutsu!"

"WHAT?" went the collective yell.

"Yeah! I'm so jealous! They're going to learn a wide variety of ninjutsu and chakra control techniques over their years at the Academy! We'll have to check out for the next batch of Genins fresh from graduation! They'll kick asses! He'll help granny Tsunade with paperwork too. I heard she kissed him square on the mouth when he told her and squeezed him between her two huge… well… breast."

Sasuke snickered and Sakura rolled her eyes. Naruto got serious after that.

"That'll give her more time to take care of Haku."

Their eyes all went down. The gentle teen state was stable. Tsunade promised a complete recovery. But he still had to wake up.

"Man… if only we could have a break from all of this," sighed Naruto. "It seems bad things just happen one after the other lately, neh, Sasuke? Sasuke? What are you looking at like that?"

He looked in the direction his brother, petrified, was starring. Naruto froze up, supporting an identical expression. Sakura, not catching on, followed their combined stare. It rested on two men walking across the stream. One looked like he just escaped a horror movie, as the monster. The other… looked way too much like Sasuke to be a simple coincidence. The twin roar that came from her teammate confirmed the cold fear that gripped her.

"IIIITAACHIIIII!"

The men stopped and turned toward the incoming duo. Kakashi was closing in on them fast from behind, but would never catch up to them in time. They took a break from weight training that day. The grey-haired ninja didn't want to lose any more teammates. He rather fight a losing battle. Sakura knew she was badly outmatched but followed nonetheless, figuring she could try to distract the grey-skinned guy while the others took care of the Uchiha traitor. From what she heard, she hoped the three of them would be enough.

The shark face man stood in front of Itashi, walking on water. His mouth opened incredibly wide and shot a continuous stream of water. Naruto dodged easily, concentrating solely on Itashi. It became soon evident that the fishy ninja was targeting Sasuke and Kakashi, not even bothering with Sakura.

"Keep them away a while, please, Kisame," asked Itashi emotionlessly.

" 'Kay. Can I kill'em?"

"They are of no importance."

"Thanks!" grinned the man, as he got a huge sword from his back.

Kakashi and Sasuke had their sharingan on. They quickly activated, both of them, a Chidori in their right hand. Sasuke made a quick string of seal with his left hand and, four seconds later, had a two foot fireblade spinning in it. Sakura took her latest invention that she didn't have the time to test yet. It looked like a deck of card.

Hell got unleashed, but it was in a hue of blood red chakra, right behind Kisame.

* * *

As Naruto stood before him, Itashi changed his regular sharingan into the more deadly one. Naruto tried to advert his eyes but it was already too late. The technique already ensnared him. He was back in the Uchiha compound, as he remembered it from a few years ago. The moon shone red above, casting a crude light on them. He gritted his teeth together, furious of having been caught so easily. Why had the fight to be lost even before it really began?

"Naruto-kun. Long time no see. Did you become strong? You still look so weak to me. I would have broken you here, normally. A few hours of torture, replaying the death of that clan. It would make it easy enough to pick you up when the time comes. But you seem already weak enough to hold prisoner. I only need to incapacitate you for the Akatsuki. It will save us the trouble to look for you later."

Naruto wanted to whack that indifferent face. Was that really the brother he adored when he was a little kid? His role-model? His inspiration? He wanted to hurt him so much. But he could not. He was crucified on a wooden stake. No matter how much he told himself he was in his own mind and should have control, he could not break his bond as Itashi neared him.

The first five hours dragged slowly. He was stabbed, burned and ripped apart only to find himself stressed, but intact, on the wooden cross again. He multiplied, his copy bound like him, without having to make a seal for the Kage Bushin. The number of Itashi multiplied too. So did the pain. The moon seemed to bleed its scorching light into his wound, mixing with his blood and burning him inside. Naruto had lost the flow of time but felt in his bone that Itashi was far from done. He was exhausted. All his efforts to regain the control of his brain were naught. He had no pride left to try to swallow the screams, to hide the pain. So many things were stripped raw from him.

He opened his eyes to see his tortionaire studying him with his dark red eyes, wondering where he would stab him next. Something inside him snapped. Something that had nothing to do with the Kyubi, but that he had, in a sense, in common with it. His lips rose, showing pearly white teeth. He began laughing quietly, his eyes never leaving Itashi's. He had the start of a maniacal look on his face.

Itashi knew well what would happen next. It was a phase. It never lasted. He simply went on. With an incredibly long kunai, Itashi pierced Naruto's chest right below a lung and pressed on, the knife grinding against a rib. Naruto's laugh left in a scream, before getting back full force. If something, it got louder and his eyes, impossibly wide, never left Itashi's indifferent stare. Naruto suddenly lurched forward, straining his bound, getting his face a mere two inches from the one of Itashi's yelling:

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

Itashi, concentrated on his own task, instinctively jumped back. Naruto laughed even harder, head thrown back. It was eerie to hear. As much as they were gathering pain earlier, there was over twenty maniacal laugh now getting strength out of each others in the red street of the dead Uchiha clan. Itashi never saw that phase last very long. Even when drove into insanity, his victims always got back to their screams of pain. There was no escape. You can't fall unconscious in your own mind. But Naruto kept on screaming his promise of doom to Itashi, thrashing senselessly against his bound, laughing all the while.

* * *

Something inside Naruto began to stir. This time, it had everything to do with the Kyubi. The infernal beast had awakened from the continuous screams from the neighbour next door. He was enjoying it greatly. He held no affection for his host. But right now, he felt… tuned… with his container. The brat's mind took a new turn, a path similar to his own. He saw the fun he could get out of this. He decided to put his paw down. In the tortured section of his mind, Naruto felt a burning sensation slowly filling him. It had nothing to do with the spiked senbon Itashi was getting out of his cheek. Itashi stopped a moment as the reaction of his prisoner did not answer the treatment he was giving him. Chakra began to swell around the fifty Naruto present. The room shone even redder, like a dark sun boiling on itself.

The blond's eyes changed to red, slitted orb while the marks on his face carved themselves deeper. His fangs and nails grew longer, and sharper. The pillar to which he was tied began to smoke right before litting on fire, fuelled by Naruto's scorching fury.

Itashi stood back, not understanding. What was that all about? Never his half-brother showed any possibilities to access the Kyubi's forsaken energy! He thought Naruto would be different from the other jinchuriki.

The décor changed to a wide room with huge white stone walls, stripped with orange mortar. A giant cage closed by a paper seal stood in the background. A terrific sight appeared behind the bars. The nine tail fox pressed his head against the bars and started to breathe deeply. So deeply… and very fast. Naruto was following his breathing pattern, still facing Itashi, his back to the demon.

'Damn!' though the traitor Uchiha. 'I have to get the control of my jutsu back or…'

But he didn't have the time to act on his thoughts. He didn't even have the time to finish it. Naruto's new buddy had other plans. Red-orange chakra flew from the cage to enter Naruto's back. His glowing form got too hot to directly look at. Naruto opened his mouth suddenly after a single seconds of powering up. In here, he was not limited by how his body could channel chakra. Only as to how his soul could. And Kami knows Naruto's soul was strong. Naruto let out a deadly roar, deadly from the chakra he spat, channelled instead of rampaging, on Itashi.

The missing nin had nowhere to run, nothing to hide behind. The blast caught him fully, burning his mental form and melting him in a searing agony. He could not fall unconscious here either. A defence mechanism built in the jutsu forced-broke the technique. Naruto got back to his normal state. With only one hostile entity inside him able to mess with his head.

* * *

Kisame, suddenly not caring about his adversaries, turned toward Itashi. He needn't be an expert to know something was wrong. The elder Uchiha seemed to be in quite some pain. He was encompassed in Naruto's red aura, or rather it extended to him. The exiled Leaf ninja had his mouth opened wide in a scream he had no flexibility to let loose. His whole body was rigid as a board. His eyes, once red and black from his ultimate technique, were white as they rolled in their socket to the back of his head.

The fireworks stopped before anyone could react. Both adversaries fell on their back. Kisame was the first to get to his senses. He jumped on Itashi, grabbed him and sank in the water. He swam away at a speed the Leaf ninja present had no hope of following.

The charm broke as Kisame's form disappeared. They turned back to Naruto and ran to him. Sasuke kneeled to him and turned Naruto's prone form on his back. He didn't look much better than his escaped brother.

* * *

Naruto was running around, trying to escape the red and black eyes. He was escalading giant claws in a field of burning, red fur. The thick mane, ever consuming, was slowing him down considerably as his panicked mind tried to find a way to escape the flight of eyes with spinning ninja stars in them. Sometime, he had to dodge those same shuriken the eyes were throwing at him. He could not feel if they got him or not in his back. He felt so numb… so he ran. A jumping orange moon was following him around, always betraying his position, even though its light was the only thing stopping him from running in the dark. He finally turned to check out where his pursuers were…

Naruto woke up. The nightmare left him feeling bad and tired. Drained. He was sore everywhere and the phantom pain of hours of torture clawed on him. He tried to stir in his bed, groaning and moaning all the while. He wanted to do anything but to sleep now. He knew the nightmares would follow him there. He felt so weak, pathetic and vulnerable…

"Sssshhhhhhh… Naruto. It's okay. You're safe now. Go back to sleep, you need to rest. It's still the middle of the night. Tsunade-sama will come back to check on you in the morning."

Naruto knew that voice. Where did he hear that pleasant, feminine tone before? In the dark room, someone quietly walked around the bed. The light of some outside street lamps showed generous forms filling a nurse outfit. He finally saw the face of the girl filling it.

"Nee-chan?"

The hot spring temptress used a wet cloth to wash the sweat from his forehead and cheeks.

"Hey there, young Casanova. You got it bad this time, huh? Rest. It's been too long since the last time you came to entertain us."

Naruto was mostly awake now but the fear to get back to the realm of the living nightmares was still present. The nurse sat beside him in his bed and cradled him in her ample bosom.

"Sleep, my brave ninja. Tonight, Nee-chan will protect you."

Naruto relaxed, feeling warm arms surrounding him. He fell back to sleep, hearing a soft humming from his guardian angel.

* * *

**The perfect end of chapter. Sorry, I couldn't help myself. It was too sweet. Send your dentist bill under the form of review.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: Who said Masashi Kishimoto was the first to have written about Naruto? He could have gotten it from my head through the collective conscience of the Earth! Pffff... I'll let thoses rights slide... just for this once...**

* * *

Naruto woke up with the chirping of the birds. He felt way better than the last time he woke up, in the middle of the night. He made a self check-up to realise he only had a slight headache he would forget with something to distract him. No more blurriness, practically no more phantom pain and he was hungry. Everything was back to normal. The memory of what happen last night when he woke up decided to push itself upfront in his head. It made him blush a little, his eyes staring at the spot where his 'Nee-chan' sat the night before.

"Ara-ara… You seem to have nice thoughts in the morning. I hope this stupid Toad didn't corrupted you too much!"

The recently appointed Hokage walked in the room, followed by Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi and the said 'stupid Toad'. He knew better than to correct her. On top of that, she permitted that much visitors only if they were REAL quiet. Look like it didn't applied to her, or the patient.

"Obaa-san! You should have realized by now that the one corrupted by the other is him! He's the poor, helpless victim of a pervert in full bloom! You should discuss that with him around a bottle of sake." said Naruto, as loud as ever.

Jiraiya, who was laughing until now, stopped suddenly.

"Don't try to make me buy her sake! You don't know how much she can take before calling it 'a drink'!" he said, looking afraid.

"What?" Naruto replied, faking surprise. "Don't you feel like you owe her at least a drink for saving your life and taking good care of your favourite student? Your successor? Twice in forty-eight hours at that!"

Tsunade knew an occasion to annoy Jiraiya when she saw one, and to get free drink to boot.

"Yeah!" she said, turning toward the Toad Hermit, hands on her hips, "Don't you have no shame? Are you so ungrateful? Come on! You're buying me that drink right now!"

She grabbed one of his arms and effortlessly dragged him along.

"But… But… Naruto! What about him?"

"You can see just like me he have totally recovered. He can resume training tomorrow. Don't you try to weasel out of this one, Ero-Sanin!" she answered him mockingly.

"But it's eight in the morning!"

"So what? Traditional breakfast include a little bit of sake. Hurry up! All this talk about food is making me hungry too!"

The rest of Jiraiya's ignored protestations were unheard as the door closed. Team Seven was alone. At last. Looking around the room, one could see the V.I.P treatment Naruto was put under. A large room with large windows, a desk with a huge vase of flowers that they simply didn't have the time to throw away since his last visit, a large bed that could contain four like him easily…even progressive lighting! It looked like the room a clan leader would be getting instead than a freshly appointed Chuunin. In a way, it was not inappropriate.

In a rare show of affection, Sasuke walked to the side of the bed and jumped in it, laying right next to Naruto, his arm crossed behind his head. Sakura followed his lead and took the left side of Naruto, laying in a similar way. To their huge surprise, Kakashi leaped and landed on the foot of the bed, sitting crossed leg. Without any other reason than that, they all burst in laugher. They were a close-knit team. The larger family the Uchiha Brothers had in years.

"So…" Kakashi began, "What happened? We all saw Itashi trying a special Sharingan on you, Naruto, but the result was quite unexpected."

Naruto, who was now sitting on his bed, laid back on it in a similar way of the two other occupants at his sides.

"Like it happened the first time, the day our clan was destroyed, I appeared in the Uchiha clan's sector, at night, under a red moon. I was trapped in my own head, under his will."

Sasuke shivered. He knew where this was going.

"He told me I didn't become strong enough and that playtime was over. He wanted to bring me to some organisation named Akatsuki and detained me there until some event where they would use me for. Something I have no idea of."

"Akatsuki?" repeated Kakashi, looking at him unbelievingly. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. You know any of them?"

"Only this: I don't ever want to fight one alone! We have no clue of their identities, only that they are insanely strong. If Itashi act as a courier for them, it tell us how much."

Sasuke began to massage the sides of his head and Naruto had an arm across his face, hiding his face. Sakura looked horrified.

"Aniki. We REALLY have to speed up the training!" said Sasuke, hautingly.

"How? We were already going at full speed! I told you last time! If we go any faster than this, we'll have no life!"

"Better that than being dead!"

Naruto looked like he was going to cry. He haven't had his date with Ten-Ten yet! He knew how angry any girl could become when you break a promise.

"That's sucks! We'll have to talk to Jiraiya about this. He must have some training methods that will speed things up. "

"Ha-hem. I'm still your Jonin instructor, Naruto." said a sweat-dropping Kakashi.

"Yeah, you are. You'll have to share your experience dude. Not only that: you'll have to train like a mad man to be able to match an Akatsuki members one-on-one." replied Naruto.

Kakashi stood straighter. A cold sweat trickled down his back.

"You're serious? You want to face them without knowing their number, strength or motive?"

Naruto looked at him seriously.

"THEY came to get to ME. They won't give up just like that simply because one of their members failed. They're after the power of the Kyubi, that's for sure. For what purpose, that is not relevant right now."

They stayed there, silent for a while, everyone pondering their own though. A huge gurgling noise filled the room. Naruto put a hand on his flat belly, smiling carelessly.

"Anyone else's up for a ramen?"

* * *

Team Seven was finally at Ichiraku's Ramen, the original destination of their stroll, the previous day, before being attacked. Before they attacked who they met. Whatever. Slurping noises were filling the place before some heavy glare send by Team Seven quiet some other rude customers. You gotta respect your ramen!

"So… Do you think Itashi's out of the picture?" asked a dubious Sasuke, breaking the ice.

"I don't think so." Naruto answered, putting his half-empty bowl on the counter. Yes, only _half_-empty!

"Somehow…" he continued, "I think it was inevitable his eyes took some irreversible damage. I'm sure they did. The Kyubi's chakra is incredibly corrosive and the path Itashi took to get in my mind is trough his eyes. I'm sure the demon burned that bridge. He must have planned something for the time when his eyes would lose all sight. He probably began to prepare a while ago. However, it came earlier than he though, of that I am sure. What do you think?"

Kakashi lift his visible eyes at the question.

"It is plausible. But didn't that last attack fried his brain?" The Jonin asked in return.

"I don't think so." Naruto answered truthfully. "I think he's tougher than that. I remember vaguely him getting off the chakra shockwave before it scatters his spirit around. There must be some kind of minimal safeguard that prevent that jutsu from killing its user from an overflow coming from the target's brain. It gives us a chance though."

"A chance to train? To catch up?" said Sasuke questionably.

Naruto's eyes were lost in the distances.

"Yeah. The goal seemed so unrealistic back then. Like running around, trying to find the base of a rainbow. Always seeing it, never reaching. Even with all the training we went trough. It doesn't look so impossible now."

"Then we get back at it tomorrow morning. Intense training, no more hiding. Especially to our teammates," stated Sasuke firmly.

"Yeah. I'll ask Jiraiya some pointers to guide our training too. That is, if I can keep him far from the hot spring long enough!"

* * *

In a bathhouse of the village, a Sanin sneezed. He was sitting in the water, having it at chest level. He was holding a sake bottle of premium quality in his hand.

"Damn kid! Still talking in my back!" He said loudly.

"Look like your reputation is established with that team, baka! Not that it is not deserved…" said a naked Tsunade, resting her back against his broad chest.

"Come on now! My cup is empty!" she said, giving his side a slight nudge from behind and his eyes a good view of her 'assets' before him.

"Hai, hai…" said the grinning man, pouring some of the beverage in her cup.

* * *

Another day rose on Konoha as the sun heroically pulled himself up in the sky. People don't realize the miracle accomplished everyday by the source of warmth and life itself. Ninja often take inspiration in that ball of fire for deadly technique or soul-shattering poems. A particular team watched it, as they sat on a bridge, cross the horizon in an explosion of breathtaking colors. They saw it create long shadows and use its divine light to get an healthy tan as it rose higher and higher…When it got to its highest point, they were literally boiling… with anger. Then the source of that anger showed up.

"Hi! Sorry team! I got stuck in the traffic!" said Kakashi, smilling under his mask.

"Yeah…" said Naruto to their happy-go-lucky instructor, "Konoha's rooftops highway is really busy at this hour of the day, neh, Kakashi-sensei?"

The man put a hand behind his head and laughed a little at the jab. For once, it was Sasuke who berated him after the initial greeting, pointing at their lastly made resolution to train harder while Naruto stood back, pondering.

* * *

The next morning found Kakashi in front of the memorial dedicated to the fallen Leaf warriors. He just stood there, as usual, talking now and then. He never heard, four hours after his arrival, a leaf rustle at the top of a tree as he left to meet his team.

* * *

"Hi! I was walking the road of life and… hum… where is Naruto?" asked Kakashi, intrigued. Never was the blond late before. He had Sasuke to wake him up after all.

"He told us he had 'Chuunin matters' to attend and not to wait for him." said Sakura, getting up from a serie of one-handed push-up.

"That's strange. What is it about Sasuke?"

"No idea." he simply answered, barely lifting his shoulders.

Kakashi and Sakura looked at him disbelievingly.

"Hey! We're not married that I know!"

* * *

Naruto was walking toward the Hokake's office. It would be a hard battle, that one. Tsunade was strict with the rules. She would not let that one slide easily, and he could get hurt pretty bad in the process. He hoped his arguments would be strong enough to make his point, for her to accept his request.

He passed the Anbu guard with a nod. They nodded back. Even with the change of Hokage, some things would not. Naruto opened the door, a solemn face on.

"Tsunade-sama? I hope I am not disturbing…"

He stopped dead in his track, stunned. Sarutobi turned back from his window watching, in full Hokage robes, smiling softly. He just stood there as if it was the most normal thing in the world, as if the last months never happened.

"Ohoh! Naruto-kun! What's bringing you here on this good morning?" he said, happy to see his surrogate grandson.

"Ji-jii! What the heck? I'm glad to see you here… but how? Aren't you…"

"Retired? Yes, I was! But fear not! This is no cosplay! I told you I would help Tsunade with paperwork and other administrative whatnot. She insisted that the task was too much to go without some title! So, for now, their will be two Hokages in Konoha! There is more then enough work for two, and to share the weight of responsibility is a welcome bonus."

He chuckle softly as he went around his desk and sat behind it.

"I'm mostly taking care of the paperwork. It may seem boring, but it isn't any stress for my old heart! I'm relieving Tsunade-chan from those odd jobs and let her concentrate on more important matters."

"Tsunade-chan?" insisted Naruto, smilling at the familiarity.

"She's always going to be like a daughter to me, Naruto. Whatever she becomes as wrinkled as I! Now, what do you need a Hokage for?"

Naruto lost his smile. This would be… even harder than he though.

"I know its bending the rule, Sarutobi-sama, but I need a file."

The reinstitute Third became serious at once. The change in Naruto's familiarity didn't go unnoticed.

"Which one, Naruto-kun?"

"The last mission of Uchiha Obito."

Sarutobi sighed and leaned back against his chair. So… this is what it was about.

"Naruto… You would be better to ask your sensei about that."

"Do you really think he would bless me with an honest answer? Whit a full retailing of the events? It is him that I'm worrying about."

"Naruto, that's his own personal issue. Only with time and self-reflexion will he be able to overcome this."

Naruto just looked at him. Then, he pulled a tape from his pocket. He put it on the Hokage's desk without a word and pressed the play button.

At first, the sound wasn't very clear. There was the sound of soft wind and the melody of some bird could be heard loudly. Then it got quieter, as the directional microphone must have been adjusted.

"Naruto, what's this…" began Sarutobi, suddenly wary of where this was going.

_/Hey Obito. It's me again./_

The voice of the Cyclops Anbu captain filled the room. The Hokage stayed silent. Whenever someone saw Kakashi or came to him at the monument, the Jonin always stayed silent. Probably was he shutting up as soon as someone came close to him.

_/My team is pretty impressive, Obito. They remember me a bit of us at that time. They're not even thirteen yet and two of them are already Chuunin!/_

What was Naruto's objective to make him hear that? To boast?

_/I misses you, Obito. You shouldn't have died back there./_

The Hokage closed his eyes and dropped his head. It always saddens him to see one of the children of the village hurt.

_/It should have been me./_

The Hokage's eyes shot to the recorder at those words.

_/What would have happened… if it would have been me under that rock? Would Rin still be here?/_

"Stop this, Naruto."

_/Would you be teaching my team? I bet you would teach the Uchiha Brothers better than I ever could./_

"Naruto, stop this tape."

_/I'm sure you would have not ended up as a lazy bum like me. You were so much more a better person./_

"I'm ordering you to STOP THIS NARUTO!"

_/In the end, it would have been a much better world if I had di…/_

The tape stopped there. There was at least another hour on it, but Sarutobi's fist stopped it from being heard. The man had an enraged face and got his trembling and scratched hand out of the electronic debris. He stomped heavily to a cabinet files, opened a drawer and fished a file he knew the location by heart.

"HERE, Naruto!" he said, throwing the anonymous vanilla folder on the Chuunin's knees. "You have it! Now, get out of my office! You are no longer welcome."

"You know the rules as I do, Sarutobi-sama. The files must stay in this office for security."

Naruto opened the folder and started to read. The Hokage almost growled. He began pacing furiously behind his desk. He looked at Naruto, calmly turning the pages. What could Naruto get out of this? How could he be so cruel to him, exploiting his biggest weakness, his love for his children? Why was he doing that to him, who was his grandfather in everything but blood? Was that the boy he watched grow all of this time? He looked at him again, but took the time to detail him.

He was sitting there, shaking like a little leaf under a heavy wind. His face showed the sign he wanted to cry. The Hokage realized his protégé took no pleasure doing this. He had to concentrate hard to read the traumatizing past of his sensei on top of braving the very potent hostile intent that was emanating from himself until a second ago.

"Naruto… I…"

"I'm done!"

He got up quickly, put the folder on the desk before picking up the broken part of the recording device.

"I've got one last request, Hokage-sama."

The old man sat, tired, behind his dented desk.

"What do you want, Naruto?"

"The location of the medic nin Rin."

* * *

Naruto was packing his sack for a short travel. Sasuke stood in the doorway of his bedroom, arm closed.

"Where are you going, Aniki?" asked Sasuke, a little worried.

"You want to lie to Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei?" his blond brother asked.

"We did it before."

"Good point. I'm going to find a girl named Rin who exiled herself from the village with the permission of the council. She was Kakashi's teammate years ago."

"What good will this do?"

"Kakashi can't forgive himself for what happened. If someone who was there, someone that was close to him, forgive him at his place, it might help him a little. I'm sure this girl isn't better off than Kakashi anyway. She simply choose to run away instead of staying and grovelling in self-pity."

"Yeah… okay. I'll say you went travelling the elemental countries for the ultimate ramen."

"Right! Like we have to search for it! It's at Ichiraku's!" laughed Naruto.

"Yeah… We invented it," Sasuke said, chuckling at his own joke.

Naruto laughed more quietly now that farewell were fast coming. He picked up his backpack and placed it comfortably. He stood in front of Sasuke, ready to go.

"Good luck, have fun and come back quickly, brother. Training's just not the same without you." Sasuke told him seriously.

* * *

Thus, Naruto ran all the way to the Inner Sea. He crossed Fire country all the way to Water country. He never stopped unless it was to eat, sleep or relieve himself. He was wearing his heavier weights, seeing no reason not to use this as endurance training. He slept six hours a day at top, preferring running the whole night. Running under the moonlight and seeing the sun rise was always something that seemed to fill him with energy and resolve.

After six days of that, he was sweaty, tired and ached all over. Yep, he was having the time of his life. He jogged along the coast, watching the sun rise as another day woke on the Coast of the Inner Sea. He got in sight of one of those fisherman villages that surrounded the beaches of Water country. The people there were harden by life and earned their money by diligent work from sunrise to sunset. Even if small, the village seemed prosper, as fish never got hard to find in the Inner Sea.

Naruto walked in the Inn/tavern that was quiet at this time of the day. After all, If you're to be fishing at sunrise, you have to take your breakfast even before that… The rush was passed and lunch was still in a while. He got to the counter, taping on it mildly to get the attention of the patron, probably cooking in the back store. He guessed right as the corpulent man, sign he liked his own cooking, came to meet him, washing his hands on a wet towel.

"Hi there, kiddo! It's been a long time since I've seen a new face around! Where's your mom and dad?"

Probably the man was distracted. Naruto's smile faltered a little at the memory of his departed parents. He tapped at his forehead protector that was on his arm, having it tied there instead of hanging by his neck for days of running. The men's eye followed his finger and opened wide.

"Ha. So you're one of THAT kind."

"Yeah. I need to find a girl named Rin. I heard she had a house or something around here."

"Might I ask what would be your business with her if you were to find her?"

"You can, but I can't tell you much since its in regard of her past. Times that, I guess, she never talked about."

"You would guess right."

"She had…" tried to explain Naruto, without saying too much, "let's say… bad experiences. She was not alone in this. I decided that she, and the other person I'm talking about, carried that weight long enough. She need to come back home to face this so she might get back to a life without regrets. Or, at least, with a lighter burden."

"What's telling me you are speaking the truth?"

"You can't know it for sure. I'm a ninja. Muscles are not the only thing I train. It's for you to decide, then, if you take the risk to tell me."

"You're not saying things like 'either way I'll find her' or 'I could get the truth from you with other means?'"

Naruto smiled knowingly. Their reputation was not stolen.

"Both are right, sir, but you look like a good men. I trust your judgment."

The men nodded, looking far away.

"Her house is on a large raft, at large. At this time of the year, she should be about fifty miles to the North-East of this Inn. Take or give a mile. She have a tall flagpole on the top of her house. She saved many fishermen from death and cured countless wounds and diseases. Harm her, and we'll group ourselves to hire the best ninja money can buy from one of your village's enemy to hunt you down personally." The men looked dead serious.

"Deal. By the way, my name is Uzumaki Naruto, one of the Uchiha Brothers and Chuunin from the village of the Leaf."

Naruto, not wanting to see the medic ninja empty handed, bought some snacks and sake. He felt he would need to use all his manipulation skills to get her back to Konoha.

* * *

Rin was sitting on her chair, looking at the waves calmly rocking her house. The sun was high in a blue sky and a cool breeze stopped thing from being too hot. All was calm as no sailor boat was coming her way, bringing some injured men, woman or child on the verge of death. They were a prideful bunch and would not disturb her for a cold or a simple knife cut. They went to her when permanent damage was implied. They compensate her generously too. She sighed. Those days were the worst. When she had nothing to do. The sky seemed brighter when she was young. She was surrounded by lustrous forest in a land of Fire where the sun burned hot. But not as bright as the eye of…

She shook her head hard, refusing to let the memory surface. The day was dark enough in her head. As she resumed her sea watching, she saw something odd. Something was coming her way. Something small… black and white. And yellow on top. As it got closer, she manage to distinguish a human form, running on top of water.

ON TOP OF WATER? Was he CRAZY? He's risking to run out of chakra far from the coast! Her first reaction was to run to him to make sure he was okay, and then to run away since he was obviously a ninja. But how could she leave her house behind? She would greet anyone who would come to her and she would have no mercy toward any hostile intention. She was not defenceless.

The boy got close enough so she could detail him. No more than fourteen, wearing a black shirt with a huge orange spiral on it… white baggy shorts… opened brown leather jacket… and bright blond hair. Eyes blue as the sky… the bluest blue she ever saw on a smiling face. Why does her heart filled with hope simply seeing this boy?

* * *

Naruto almost entered the door as Rin invited him too but knew better. He was still standing in the doorway when she came back from the kitchen, the sake he brought heated and ready to drink. She was not that prejudiced to deny alcohol to a young boy. He was a ninja, seemed reasonable enough and there was nothing wrong, medically speaking, with a little sake now and then, but why would he not pass the door?

"You can enter, you know. There is no trap on the frame! I know you are … dirty from the road if I can say so, but I'm not as superficial as to stop you from stepping inside because of that!"

She put down the bottle and glasses on the center table of her living room before kneeling and showing him a couch.

"Thank you, Rin-san. But…I may be a little heavy for your floor."

"Heavy? You can't weight more then… No… You can't mean that you…On the water… All those miles…"

Naruto took his bracelet off carefully and rolled them in balls. He put them down carefully and sent them in separate ways on the floor and did the same with his legs and ankle weight. The house rocked a little from one side to the other. Then, Naruto took off his leather vest and entered the house carefully. As the whole raft sunk a little bit his way, he hurried to make his way to what should be the middle of the boat, the end of the living room, and put down his vest there. The floating house got back its stability. Rin was looking at him, mouth hanging. She stared at him stretch all the way to her couch until he jump on it. She closed an eye and grimaced, expecting it to break under the weight. It seemed that he had got rid of all his weights since he bounced lightly on it, before settling with one leg hanging over one arm of the couch. He grabbed a cup of sake and lifted it in her direction.

"Kempai!"

Then he drowned it. Okay. At least, now she knew she was dealing with somebody who wasn't new to alcohol. She filled his cup again. He didn't touch it this time, looking at her expectantly. It was time to talk.

"You could have died, doing that." she said. "Are you even conscious of it? You could have run out of chakra and fall, with your body full of weight, at the bottom of the sea. That doesn't seem like something smart to do. More like suicide."

"Not going to happen to me."

"I've heard that before and…"

"No, no, no. It can't happen to ME. On top of a… special… condition… that grants me access to a godly amount of chakra, I have a very high chakra production and recovery system."

She was impressed. All ninjas know that to use a technique, you have to mould chakra. But the great majority refer at a 'chakra pool', which is inexact by itself. You have to blend spiritual and physical energy to produce chakra. It is produced as you use it. The thing is: people use chakra to live. So the human body always produce chakra. Some systems make more than other and thus their system will be able to produce more chakra in a shorter amount of time than other.

Some techniques need a greater chakra output than other. You can't just gather energy until you have enough! There is always a time limit. The greater the physical strength, the greater the output. The strongest is the spirit, the more chakra pressure there will be behind that output. The intensity of an emotion, the artist talent, character strength, and intelligence are a few factors that determine a great spirit, without forgetting the charisma. And that kid just said he can't run out of chakra. She found herself believing him. He was… dangerous. To an enemy, hopefully.

"And what might bring you here? I guess this is not a simple rest in the middle of your training."

"I want to bring you back with me to Konoha." said Naruto, straight to the point.

"Never."

She could be quite direct too.

"Kakashi…" started Naruto before being cut off.

"I never want to see him again. You don't know what happen. Mind your own business."

"Yes, I do know. Even if I wasn't there. The report was done with great detail. I'm sorry for what happened to your teammate."

"I don't care, I don't want to hear…"

She jumped back but could not escape Naruto as he assaulted her and pinned her to the ground. Without his weight on, she had no chance of beating him in speed. He had an impassive face and a kunai pressed to her throat, drawing a harsh line of blood.

"Such a believing fool. You trust me into your home simply because I wear a Konoha forehead protector? How does your village survived for so long? At least, by acknowledging those event, you confirmed being part of the team of ninja that killed a whole team of my village, quite some years ago."

Rin eyes went wide. There was no hint of hesitation in his voice. She had been careless. After all, after all those years of leaving her alone, why would they come to her now?

"After you, it's going to be the Copy Cat's turn. Thanks for confirming his identity as the third member. Any last wish? Anything to say? Apologies or supplication perhaps? Do them quickly, while you still can utter a sound."

As she saw the knife dig fast in her neck, cutting through it like butter, knowing the pain would come in the next second, her mind simply did what was last asked of her, letting her eyes release tears long held back and a scream to alleviate her soul of that burden she carried around for so long.

"I'm sorry you had to die for me O-Obitooooo! It's my entire fault! If I had not been SO WEAK I… could have..."

She opened her eyes back, not understanding how such a cut would not cause some pain, even after many second. And how were she able to talk with her carotid and wind pipe severed, one filling the other logically to drown her in her own vital fluids. As she opened her eyes, Naruto was on the couch, quietly sipping on his sake. She lifted herself up again, trying to understand. Then it hit her.

"A genjutsu?" she asked softly, hoping this was really all a nightmare.

"Part of it. You should take care of that." said Naruto, pointing her neck.

Her hand shot to it, thinking she would find an opened gash but felt only a wide skin cut where the kunai had initially pressed hard.

"I'm average in the genjutsu field. It requires maddening concentration and control for one not… gifted… in the area. So I begin the scenario for real only to finish it inside an illusion. It is easier to convince the enemy's brain when what it is showed logically follow what it just saw."

She could not stop herself from behind impress. A mix of dream and reality. Her hand was already glowing a very soft blue and healed the cut. Then her brain began working back to normal, following more than one track at the time. She have been tricked! He could have really hurt her! He made her remember Obito, and Kakashi, that fateful day and even cried out in tears…

"Y-y-y-youuuu… TRICKED ME! How dare you coming into my home and…"

"If that's what it take for you to confess your feeling of guilt, I'll play the bad guy as often as it takes, and as convincingly. Now imagine just for a moment how Kakashi must feel, since he was the leader of the team who killed his best friend, after years of feeling that guilt you just felt, never forgiving himself."

She stopped short of steam, finding nothing to counter that. She began to see his line of though. Of course, he would come to her for help.

"I don't picture you as cruel," kept on Naruto, looking at his sake cup. "You choose to forget but that was forced, in a way, by you mind who would not accept those events. You didn't forget Kakashi because you hate him either."

"OF COURSE not!" Rin claimed loudly.

This time, she was shocked by her own outburst. Her cheek got quite red too. The moment was way too serious to be allowed to slip away, but Naruto stored that information in a safe place to get back to it later.

"If you don't hate him then, you'll help me get him out of that mental state his burrying himself in. He may be strong enough to live with it, but it won't be a happy life. He's spending all his morning, from dawn to midday, at the stone monument of Konoha, talking to Obito or just standing there. Everyday. Self-destructing. Wondering what could have been if he had died at his place. Wishing Obito had his life he believes he does not deserve."

Naruto stopped there for a moment. Rin was crying silent tears at this point, her head in her hands.

"Don't you think you're pushing a little bit?" she asked, her voice breaking.

"Pushing it? I'm gracing you from the details and the sad tone he takes all those mornings. Pushing would be making a Bushin, transforming it at Kakashi's image and to replay the scene. I haven't decided yet if I would actually do it or not. I had a tape with four whole hours of one of those mornings."

"I don't want to hear it!"

"I guess you don't. Still trying to deny? I won't make you listen to it since it's been destroyed. I made the old Sarutobi listen to it as an argument to see the file reporting your mission. He asked me to stop it after barely five minutes. Since I wouldn't stop it, he smashed it."

Rin was looking at him unbelievingly. So many questions pushed themselves in her head. The gentle old men, doing such a rash action? But none of the words seemed to leave her mouth. She would end up asking them, she knew, as she could not hide herself or ignore the past anymore. He charged in her meagre defences like a bull in a Chinese shop. People here were rough, but diplomat enough to know when a topic was off-limit. They treated her as if her life before her coming here never happened, but that guy ignored all warning signs. If something, he used them to better crash in her walls. She would not be able to live peacefully here without always remembering now. She had no choice.

"I'll come. But I'm not saying I'm moving there! You'll brief me about the latest news of Konoha. It has been a while."

She stood up slowly, making sure her legs could hold her up after all these events. They did. Good legs. She worked on auto-pilot as she made her way to her room, ready to pack. Strangely, she always had been. Somewhere, she knew she would have to do this. Shaking the uncomfortable truth, she began packing what would be necessary for a long trip while talking loud enough for Naruto to hear her.

"So…Sarutobi is still Hokage? I was sure sensei would have taken the place by now."

Her only answer was the silence. She passed her head through her bedroom door to see his face had changed. Looking at him, she realized she was not the only one with touchy topics. Konoha's news were not all good.

* * *

The goodbyes with the people of the different coastal villages were not teary, unless you count Rin. They were hard and proud people, but she was sore from the timid hugs followed by a heavy clap in her back. Naruto was smiling all the while. They were a good bunch and Rin represented well the Leaf village. He remembered the final talk he had with the patron of the Inn while Rin was busy stopping his wife from putting a whole food cabinet in her backpack.

"I'm not a man who repeat himself often so open your ears wide young men," he said with a low voice, starring straight at him. "If anything bad happen to her, I'll come and get you."

Naruto smiled widely.

"I'm so glad Rin made such good friends. You surely did a great deal to ease her pain."

The man lost a bit of his composure, not sure what to make of such an embarrassingly open compliment.

"You really did a good job taking care of her," continued Naruto. "Now, it's our turn. Don't worry. When she'll get back, she'll be happier than ever."

The man hopped from one foot to another, not knowing where to put himself. He clapped Naruto hard twice on the shoulder and went to his wife who was trying to get Rin to take another bag since it would not all fit in.

Further away from the village, the road became silent. Naruto was wearing his weight again but walked alongside of Rin. The patron settled the arguing by giving the second bag to Naruto to carry. He welcomed it as he could not run all the way back with Rin. She had to prepare herself mentally and enjoy the trip back to Konoha.

Learning of the death of her ex-Jonin master, who did become the Fourth Hokage, was hard news on her. She was wary at first, finding that Naruto, the only child her master had with a mysterious woman, contained the most feared Bijuu behind a seal. The massacre of the Uchiha clan was quite shocking and Naruto seemed to have his own issues about it. She'll have to talk to… Kakashi… about that. It was still hard to think about him.

Then there was the death of Hyuga Izashi, who became the adopted father of Naruto. He seemed to have overcome that pain, but she felt the change must be recent. So many things made a man out of that child before his time. Twelve years old Genins usually stayed child of heart for few years, until they had their first hard mission where they would have to kill, but it doesn't happen before they are fifteen or sixteen. Generally, it is all mixed in their teenager angst, but not this one.

On his side, Naruto had enough of the heavy mood set by all the bad news. He had to do something about it, and he knew just what. After all, it was his specialty.

"Anyway, I think Kakashi is so stuck-up because he's still a virgin," he simply said on a conversation tone.

Rin missed her step and fell face first on the ground. With a full backpack, it hurts. Naruto acted as if nothing happened at all, not even laughing. He didn't even slow down in fact. Rin got up and jogged back to him.

"What's this about all of the sudden?"

"Huh? I just figured it out! We never saw him with a girl. Usually, this would start open debate about his orientation but he was never seen with a guy either. He never did any romantical advance toward me or Sasuke so I guess he's not into… what? Why are you looking at me like that? I'm telling you! It's all sexual frustration."

"Stop this already!" she yelled, thoughtfully embarrassed. "Geez! Are you really twelve?"

"Thirteen in two weeks. Why, wanna date?"

"AArrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggg!"

* * *

Kakashi sighed. He was going to be overly late again. Ever since he had to take care of Team Seven, he felt even guiltier from his bad habit. It was a little past twelve. He would hear it bad from Sakura. She's beginning to hit harder. Hopefully, Naruto was away. Damn, he talked too fast. The blonde was back. He was talking with Sakura, Sasuke and someone hidden behind those three.

"Sorry team, Tora found a soldier pill and…" he began before Naruto stepped aside to look at him, like his teammates. But his eye was on the newcomer. She didn't grow much in height since that time. She developed well… but her face held his cyclopean stare. She was looking at him pretty much the same way he was looking at her.

But Kakashi wasn't a Jonin for nothing. He was fast, and smart. As Team Seven was quietly getting away, Kakashi gripped Naruto by the shoulder, hard. Very seriously. His finger were digging in his leather vest.

"You meddle with my business one more time, brat…" said Kakashi with a low, growling voice.

"It's about time somebody did, idiot. Now go. Your childhood friend is waiting for you," answered Naruto on an equally angry, but steady tone. He shook Kakashi's hard grip and went back to his team. Kakashi turned back from the only member alive of his.

* * *

Many people turned as they passed. Never anybody saw a girl actually walk alongside Kakashi instead of in front of him, ignoring his attempt at seduction. To see him so shy around her was something too. The stare returned to them and the protective closeness he had with her was enough to draw attention too, but never enough to try and cross the way of the Jonin. They liked their limbs attached to their original places, you see…

"So… Jonin, hun? Even captain Anbu at a time I heard. How many teams did you train by now?"

"Only this one. They were the first to pass."

"Pass? That blond loud boy omitted this in all his talk. What test did you pass them through that was so hard they were the first to pass it?"

"Teamwork passed self interest. And more important: those who disobey orders are trash. Those who let down friends and teammates…"

"Are worst than trash, huh?" she finished, smiling. "You took back Obito's words. I'm sure he would be glad."

"If only I could have more of his heart and dedication…"

"Where is it? I can't remember well," she curtly cut him.

"Over here. Let's take the trees, I know a shortcut."

She bet he did. In less than ten minutes, they were in front of a stone with names carved in it. It had always seemed too big to her. The losses. Kakashi walked to it. Rin was reliving painful memories as she stared at the rock, as if it was Obito's personal tombstone.

"Hey there, Obito. I've got a surprise for you. Look who came to visit!"

The natural way Kakashi said it was more than she could stand. Her knees gave up. She broke down crying loudly, her arms even too heavy to try and hide her face. Kakashi kneel down next to her, holding her shaking body in a protective hug. For the first time since Obito's funerals, tears began to flow enough to escape his mask.

* * *

Rin opened her eyes but didn't recognize the first images she got. As she rubbed them, her stomach growled loudly. It must be days since last time she ate! In fact, it was the previous morning. It was more than enough to cause stomach pain. That, and the wonderful smell that came from the other room. As she detailed the one she was in, the mystery solved itself. A picture sat alone on a desk. A picture of that energetic strawberry blond, that insufferable blond and that taciturn raven haired boy. And Kakashi.

She suddenly looked at herself, startled, but her worries were for naught. She was still in yesterday's clothes. And she needed a shower, badly. She spied on him from the door but he had his back to her. Hopefully, her backpack was beside the bed. She quietly took out some personals effects from there and sneaked in the bathroom. Half an hour later, she was out, feeling refreshed and ready for another day. The table was doing it's best to contain the monstrous breakfast her old friend put on it.

"A healthy mind need a healthy shinobi breakfast!"

Rin lifted her eyes from the appetizing content of said breakfast to look at Kakashi, before bursting in laughter, pointing at him shakily.

"What?" did he asked.

"T-t-the white maid apron and c-c-cooking hat… You kept them!" she barely got out of her laughing fit.

"Of course! I kept and used them!"

"It was a joke!"

"Well, you're laughing, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am! And now I'll be eating. I'm starved!"

Kakashi casually lowered his mask, sitting with her. She didn't know how protective he was of his face yet. She drank up every detail of it, comparing it with the ones of her memories, and how handsome he became. They had small talk, topic going around the changes Konoha had those last years she have been gone. Never would have she though the legendary Sanin Tsunade to come back to Konoha. Maybe she could try and get some advanced training…

Kakashi eventually stood up, putting his mask back on along with his green vest.

"Well… you can do whatever you like of your day I guess. I'll be going to my student now."

Rin looked at him sadly, seeing now the truth behind the words Naruto told her.

"Is that where you are going, Kakashi-kun? Right now?"

The grey-haired men stayed silent, but he didn't left either. Something in her look, in her eyes, rooted him in place. She got up and placed herself in front of him, taking his hands with hers. Why could he not move? He felt… paralysed. It was coming from deep inside of him, as if he knew he could not miss this moment or escape from it.

"Should you not mourn the dead, and then go on living? Should you not remember the lost but take care of the people still in this world?"

She felt like such a hypocrite. Until a few weeks ago, she hid, like him, from the truth. She was avoiding it, almost challenging herself from remembering it. Now, to save both her and his happiness, she had to admit right there what she denied for years.

"I know that, Rin. Don't you think I didn't though about all that? Still…"

"I forgive you."

Kakashi raised his head sharply. Rin didn't lower hers and didn't back down either under his stare. Or lost her gentle voice.

"I forgive you for leading us that day. I forgive you for not listening to Obito sooner. I forgive you for having been saved by him at the cost of his life. To have lived trough this while he did not."

"Please, stop this Rin. It hurts."

Kakashi's voice was shaking and he gripped her desperately for her to listen to his plea. She put her hands on his arm then, more gently.

"I forgive you for not being able to put this aside. For all the time spent in front of that lifeless stone, every morning. All of this is behind you now. You can start anew, beginning today."

"I…I don't think I can. I don't have… I always did this…"

"Then let me give you one reason to stay home this morning." she said, almost whispering.

Rin closed the distance that was left between them, lowered his mask that was in the way and pulled his head close to hers.

* * *

Team Seven was training on, under and all around the bridge, always trying to find new ways to move around. Sakura was coming up with something cool that her innate chakra control allowed her too. Sasuke was smirking, watching her go. She was progressing well. Sakura, on her part, wasn't smiling. She could not help to stop, head upside down, yelling.

"I'll KILL that freaking Jonin! That's TWO DAYS spending without him DAMMIT! We even had time for lunch at Ichiraku's! Today, I'm ripping his MASK OFF!"

Naruto, who had been smiling more and more as the time went, started laughing manically.

"What's so funny?" asked a pissed off Sakura.

"Someone wasn't at the me-mo-rial stoooooone this mor-ning!" Naruto answered in a sing-song voice.

"What? He's not even there? What kind of excuse does he have then?" she asked, incredulous.

Naruto started laughing anew while Sasuke looked anywhere but at her, red in the face. Poor Sakura. She wasn't used yet at thinking naughty?

"Hoy! Sasuke! You're all red in the face!" shouted his nagging brother. "Any interesting though?"

A light bulb lit in Sakura's head.

"You can't possibly mean that he…"

Kakashi choose that moment to calmly arrive, walking hand in hand with Rin, looking somewhat embarrassed. Sakura looked at him unbelievingly.

"He did. I'll be damn," she let out loud.

Kakashi's visible part of his face shot bright red, as Naruto was howling on the floor, his feet wiggling in the air.

"Hu-hum. Hi team! Well… Rin here came to confirm that I'm late this morning because we talked… a lot… this morning. You know… enlighten what we lived in the past and…burrowing bad memories…coming to understand… what happened and…"

"Kakashi-chan? You're babbling," said a lightly smiling Rin.

Naruto was on the verge of passing out from lack of oxygen. He was uttering something that sounded like 'chan' but nobody was sure. He ended up gaining control of himself and sat back up.

"Great! My job here is done!" he said loudly, dusting his hands. Then he got up and dusted his shorts. He WAS rolling around in the dirt a moment ago.

"Thank you Naruto, but really, don't meddle with other's business like that," Kakashi told him sternly.

"Rin! You'll have to… make him get here late again a few times. He still have a little stick in the ass. Maybe you're not getting at that particular place yet but you never know," the blonde yelled shamelessly.

"What are you talking about Naruto?" asked Kakashi, almost laughing nervously. "We talked all morning!" he insisted.

"Yeah, yeah. I knew it was all repressed sexual tension. You can thank me later," he said dismissingly.

"Can you believe him Rin? He think that we… because of him…that he manipulated us to…"

He stopped right there as he saw Rin reaaaally stiff all over, playing with her finger and looking at the ground. Naruto WAS the one who put all of those ideas in her head during all those travelling days! She just acted on them because she wanted to…

"Naaaaruuuutoooooo…" Kakashi hissed in a low voice, walking toward the blonde threateningly. "Do you have ANYTHING to do with this?"

"Yep!"

"Can you do it again?"

"Kakashi-chan!" yelled Rin, embarrassed.

She almost look outraged. She could not decide if she was about to shout, to laugh or to hide in a hole.

"Maaaaaahhhh… Maybe I can, Kakashi-kun," answered Naruto, looking at the sky thoughtfully. "But it'll be hard. Wait here."

Naruto walked up to Rin, looking as if he was searching for the right words. He put an arm around her shoulder, which was a feat in himself since she was just less than a foot taller than him.

"Rin…" whispered Naruto loud enough to be heard by everyone, "Kakashi is an emotionally unstable guy."

She put her head in her hands, unable to look at the others in the face. Her shoulder stiffened.

"You can't just leave him like this!" he resumed. "He's such a sweet cutie…"

Kakashi had his best innocent, smiling face. You know the one; with the upside down 'U' eyes!

"I'm sure you can… work on him a little more. It would be beneficial for this team and the whole village! You've got to relalize he's in line for the Hokage seat in a few decade, maybe even sooner! You can't let such a cute village's hope here all alone after making him taste the joy of…"

"ENOUGH!" she yelled, surprising many. "Kakashi! Your student is a PERVERT!"

She threw Naruto's arm away and stomped toward the masked Jonin. Without stopping, she grabbed his arm and dragged him after her.

"What? Hey! Where…" asked Kakashi eloquently.

"You're taking me on a date," answered Rin. "Now! FAR away from that blond!"

Naruto shouted toward his rapidly disappearing sensei, waving a tissue.

"Don't worry, Kakashi-san! We'll tell the Hokage you take the day off! We'll take an easy C-rank! Have fun!"

After he was out of sigh, Naruto danced in joy. What he really whispered in Rin's ear really made it's effect. And now they were free to apply the bonus part of his plan!

"You're impossible, Naruto," said Sakura, blushing and smiling lightly. "But we're still without a sensei!"

"Don't worry about that! I've got something better than training! I heard that an awesome A-rank mission would be out today! If we hurry up, we may get it!"

"A A-rank?" asked Sakura, not sure.

"You wanna spend your day off Kakashi fighting bandit?" asked Sasuke.

"Let's hit the rooftops," she replied, resolute.

"Aniki, what's the tag name of this mission?" asked Sasuke after a minute or so of jumping.

"The Week Tournament. TWT." answered Naruto, excited.

"Hohohhooooooooo… Fun," said Sakura.

* * *

**Another chapter down. I hope the little sidetrack about Rin and Kakashi didn't bore you too much. At first, it was supposed to be a simple way to introduce the next mission… and it ended up as long as a chapter. Nothing new here. Sometime, I feel as if that whole fanfic is built like that! Bah. Next chapter: battle, romance, flashback and some cookies. Can't have it without cookies.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I had only two payments left to own Naruto! But then the ushers came and seized him! ****Damn!**

* * *

It's never easy, always personal. Always special. That's what Team Seven was learning. No matter where or who it happenned with. Unless you're without a shred of emotion, what they knew to be impossible, a mission will always involve you on a deep level. Is it because they're hired to take hard decisions? Because they're the ones to apply them? Even the hardest ones? Or does it only happen to their team? How can you get in a situation where you have to spare someone who's supposed to be an enemy and kill an ally? Or at least, to punish him. How can you get out of such a situation, finish the mission, and stay morally clean? Naruto was asking himself all that, and more, while disarming a Leaf ninja, Sasuke holding back a Snow kunoichi screaming revenge, four feet behind him.

* * *

**A few days earlier**

"Hey, old man! You've got a mission for us!"

Naruto got in the mission dispatching room, followed by his teammates who didn't seem outraged by his familiarity, nor by his enthusiasm. In fact, they looked as eager as him, in their own way.

"Oh, oh! Do I now? Which mission might that be, Naruto-kun?" did the Third ask, dragging slowly on his pipe.

"TWT. The Week Tournament. You got it yesterday evening," said Naruto confidently, a large predatory smile on his face.

Sarutobi's eyebrows went down.

"How do you…" but then his face lit up. He laughed a little before fishing out a scroll out of his 'A-Rank' box. "So, that's what it was all about! You know that I would not give that kind of mission to anyone else."

He tossed the mission order, caught deftly by Sasuke.

"The mission details are all on it?" did he ask, opening the parchment.

"Yes," did the Hokage answer. "Except for one thing: the bonuses."

They all raised their head at that. Even Naruto was surprised. Bonuses were rare. You complete the mission or not. That's how it usually works.

"But you'll understand just by reading the details. If you bring back _all_ the targets, and leave indications that the Leaf did this, the reward is tripled."

Their eyes went wide, mostly for Sakura, who don't have a clan's fortune to back her up. She grabbed the scroll from Sasuke and unrolled it to the end, at the prime section. Her mouth went agape. The third of this would give her enough money to live on her own for a few months, lodging included! Meaning that if they tripled it, and each of them getting the equivalent of the reward for themselves…

"They are to be brought back here… Dead or alive, mind you," said the old man, lookind at his nails.

Sarutobi was grinning. Naruto instantly got a serious face. So… that's what it was about.

"We are ninja," the blond stated. "Leaf ninja at that. Not simple assassins. If we kill, that's because we don't have any other mean available. Bonuses or not, we would have done our best to catch them all, as the mission ask in a best case scenario."

"Haaaaaa. Good answer, Naruto-kun. Now is to see if you are faced with no other choices than to kill your adversary to get him, will you do it?" Sarutobi practically purred. He was having his revenge for the mental dilemma Naruto put him in with Kakashi's case. That didn't mean his point wasn't valid though. The old man was putting their judgment and will to the test. Sasuke took back the scroll from Sakura's nimble hands and rolled it back.

"We'll do what we have to do, to the best of our abilities, for the best interest of our village. No matter what," Sasuke said, putting the mission order away.

Sarutobi looked at him softly.

"I need no crystal ball to see that it's going to be the harder for you, Sasuke-kun. You'll have to face situations sometime where you can't stay detached. What are you going to do then?"

The raven-haired boy stayed silent. But he didn't avert his gaze. He did nothing wrong. He was who he was.

"If ever that happen, it will shape me. I won't try to fit any mould."

Sarutobi smiled and nodded. Sasuke wanted to live true to himself, not to fulfill expectations. Commanding simple robotic ninjas doesn't interrest Sarutobi. There was always a danger, for higher ranked shinobi, to get used to violence and death.

Team Seven walked out of the mission office, silents, the mood truly different from what it was when they got in. So much for a fun mission while their sensei was off. Sakura was one step behind the boys, head down, thinking hard. Sasuke was walking at a normal pace, looking at the sky. He never shifted his gaze when he addressed her.

"What's troubling you, Sakura?"

The kunoichi bit her lips, trying to find a way to answer that. She didn't want to lose their respect over that shameful dilemma!

"It's about the bonus, isn't it? And the hypothetical situation where we'd have to choose between it and an adversary's life?" Naruto more stated than asked.

Sakura wasn't even surprised anymore. Naruto was too close from his own emotions for Sakura to hope hiding hers from him. She simply nodded. For a change, it was Sasuke who solved her musing.

"You should not worry. If ever the situation arise, you'll make the most moral and rewarding decision. Whatever the money involved. We know that of you. After all, we spared Tobi thanks to you."

Sakura smiled at the memory. The poor guy looked so much like a lost puppy in that clan! How could she kill him? She realized that even if money had been involved, she would have done the same. She felt incredibly relieved.

"Thanks guys. I was worried of what this mission could make out of me," she softly said.

"Make no mistake, though," said Naruto. "I intend to get that bonus!"

* * *

The team departed, heavily charged. Like Naruto did on his trip to get Rin, they all put the maximum of weights possible. They ran on all the streams of water they met and climbed cliffs instead of taking the road. Sakura was glad that the Brothers were wearing weights way heavier than hers. They were all at their maximum and all went at the same speed.

During that time, Sasuke took out the scroll and read all the small details of the mission. No senses in making mistakes because of the small printing.

"You'll like this. All missing ninja aren't S-class trying to rule the world. It means that most of them have to take missions and contracts for a living. Since they aren't affiliated to a village anymore, they use the principle of the Chuunin exam and organize tournaments now and then. Underground organisations with doubtful mission needs get there as an audience and choose amongst the fighters the ones that suit their needs the best."

"Sounds like a bunch of pussies," said Naruto.

"Last year, the dominating winner was hired by a mob boss called Gato," said Sasuke, still reading the scroll.

Sakura gasped.

"Gato? That would mean it was… Haku?"

"More like Zabuza. It's his style. This year, they'll face something worst though," said Naruto, grinning.

"Who?" asked Sakura, confused.

"Those who defeated Zabuza," answered Sasuke, this time. "You're right, Aniki, That's why we were sent. We'll definitely be the strongest. The A-rank is probably caused by the number of opponents. We'll have to secure the targets somewhere, alive, for the whole duration of the tournament too."

"We'll figure that out once there," said Naruto. "We'll have to find a hideout and make rotating guard duties around our fights."

Sasuke rolled the scroll further and pursued his reading.

"The organizers sell the seats for the audience kinda cheap, and take care of the meetings between the ninja and the hiring organisation for higher prices. They secure the payments for some of the long term mission too… for an additional fee. We are not to attack them. Not even to hint a threat. It's in our advantage for them to keep doing this. They gather all the missing ninja in one place! That's about it. This time, they're doing it in an old ghost town. They'll use the town hall."

"Do they charge the shinobi to enter it?" asked Sakura.

"Since they want as much people participating as possible, that most of them are broke, probably on edge and that they don't want to be the one to bill an angry ninja, they don't."

"Logical," she shrugged.

* * *

The travel lasted a few days. They had fun sleeping close to each other under the stars, eating what nature hangs on the trees as much as spending whole nights awake, under the light of the gaming parts of some town or other they crossed, gambling, eating sweets and playing ping-pong extreme in hot springs resorts.

_Ping-pong extreme: Ninja version of the traditionnal sports where the players are allowed to alter the ball's course with chakra and use techniques as long as they stay within the field of the table. A match usually end with the destruction of said table._

They found the ghost town rather easily. Everybody knew of that place. It was wealthy, until some virus infected and killed people like flies. Something to do with the water. They made sure to bring a lot of it in reserve. To bad seals had their limits or they would have brought a whole pool.

They got rid of their weights at the Inn of the last village. They installed them in strategically chosen places over the Inn's entrances so that if an intruder entered at night, he would pull on a wire and they would fell down on the unwanted visitor. The wires could be installed at night and took out in the morning safely from the inside. The owner of the Inn paid them generously for that security system.

That's why instead of weights, they charged themselves with water skins, food packages and ninja tools. They had enough to stand a siege in case of a war. On the road, they saw they were not alone with that destination. They saw a few lone shinobi walking toward the ghost town. Some were running, other were in three men teams like themselves. They would have to be weary of those teams, in case they were there for the same reason as them. They could not let them steal the fishes, but they couldn't openly confront them either in case of conflict with a friendly village. They didn't want to mess with Sand ninjas.

The ghost town was coming back to life for the time of the event. Most of the people were stealthy, some were flashy and some were calculating and planning. Everybody looked to be what they were: shinobis, clients and organizers of the event. They went to the Town Hall, center of the dead city. They registered with the same names they used back then in Cloud country. Chances that a missing ninja from there would recognize the names of tourist that passed in their village the days before the massacre of the Itsuka clan were slim to none. It would be fun if some recognized and challenged them though. It would show the others they had some reputation yet!

Opportunists opened some hotels and gave services to the laziest shinobi and, mostly, the rich clients. Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto split up in search of a little side building that would be remote enough for their needs. Sasuke found one perfect for their purpose. Two rooms, with one surprisingly big cave hidden by a trap on the floor, under some kind of heavy, mouldy rug. They wondered about what job the one who originally lived there had. They found out fast enough when they discovered the piles of empty bottles. Sakura claimed them, some ideas running in her head.

Once their cache secured, they went out to check the opposition. They tried to look as rookies as possible, a hand twitching nervously near their weapon pouches practically every time someone looked their way. Some sneered at them, but none attacked. They would be a freebee in the arena! Naruto spotted a girl slumped against the wall of a desolated (as if there was any other kind of) building. He whistled appreciably at the girl's nice forms and figure. Sasuke looked at her, frowned and turned sharply toward Naruto.

"Open your eyes, idiot," he said.

Naruto looked at him, surprised. He knew him from long enough to realize when Sasuke was serious, and he was pissed at what he just did. Naruto looked at the girl who was now watching them, particularly him, with disdain. Naruto's expression changed, softening.

"Sorry, Sasuke. I… I didn't see it."

Sakura turned toward the girl too, not understanding.

"What's so special about her?" she asked.

Naruto was still feeling bad so it was his brother who explained.

"You're good enough at observating now. Try to compare her expression, attitude, general stance and feeling you have looking at her with the ones you've got from the people you know. You'll be able to guess the kind of past she had."

Sakura detailed her without shame. The girl did the same to her. They had changed their course to meet her. She didn't seem nervous much, as if she saw worse people than what she had around her right now. Her mouth didn't have those wrinkles from someone who smile often but her forehead had those of the one who frowns. She always had her arm crossed, cutting herself from everyone else. She wasn't hiding it, not caring what people though, challenging them to dare talking to her. In a weird and twisted way, it remembered her the fake smirk Naruto offer to the world as his mask and Sasuke's indifferent look. As she made more comparisons, she even had the kinda sad look Kakashi carried sometimes. That girl lost someone. Her awareness and quick shot looks tend to indicate she's looking for someone. Without drawing hasty conclusion, she was ready to bet her bonus that girl was here for revenge.

"Hey, cutie! Why don't you come with us for some fun before the firework starts?" Naruto asked, all trace of remorse gone. The kunoichi's eyes became hard and cold.

"Of all the old, cheesy, perverted, book written, macho fashioned and failed pick-up lines, that one needs to be pointed out to the world for you to be shamed. The chance of a positive answer from any girl to that is so low that I could believe you were gay and that was your way to cover it without any chances of hooking a girl by accident."

Naruto's mouth was hanging open, Sakura was holding her laugh behind both hands and Sasuke was looking at his brother from the corner of his eyes, clearly amused.

"A simple 'bug off' would have been enough! Come on, Sakura, we're outta here."

Naruto swept Sakura by the waist and retreated so suddenly that Sasuke barely had the time to realize he had been stuck up with the girl. He heard a 'heeeep!' in the distance meaning that Sakura just reacted to what happened. He turned around to find the girl sitting on the ground, looking from under the bangs over her eyes at the peoples walking around.

Sasuke sat beside her, uninvited. She didn't protest. She would have to acknowledge his presence to do that. The young leaf nin detailed her better. He only paid attention to her face until now. He soon understood the first reaction of his brother though. She was fit, like most trained ninja. He hips were slightly larger than Sakura's but it was normal on a girl almost one foot higher. She could not be considered short, for a girl. She had black, very long hair that had a way to fit with her clothes that suggested she took care of them more than just for the looks. Her chest would make Sakura jealous for the rest of her days. She was hot. Maybe that's why Sasuke's face was red now, sitting close to her like that. Still, he was curious about how she came to be here.

"So… who was it?" he asked plainly.

Her eyes widen so slightly to Sasuke's simple question that someone could have though she just tried to look further ahead.

"I don't get what you mean."

Sasuke turned toward her, his mask well in place. Face to his silence, she threw a look at him. At the precise and only second she looked at him, he dropped the mask. He let his face show the pain, the hurting inside, the betrayal and the hollow feeling of lost. The next second, it was gone. Anyone who passed by would have though to have dreamed it. But she recognized those feelings like her own. She proved her professionalism once again by not letting it show, turning back to the crowd. After another minute of silence, she talked.

"It was my mother. I wasn't even ten. She was no fighter. It was some ninja who infiltrated the village. He killed her, like that, for no reason."

Sasuke seemed uncomfortable. After all, his team killed the father and even some mothers of a whole clan. But they all had been fighters. He looked at her clothing more closely and relaxed, seeing the shape of her sandals.

"What about you?" she asked at her turn, still looking at the crowd.

"It was my older brother."

"Someone killed him on a mission?"

"No. He killed our mother and father."

"That's… awful. I'm sorry."

"And my grand-mother. My grand-father, my uncles and cousins. My whole clan."

Her face finally showed some changes. She tried to mask the horror that such a fate made her feel.

"He must be some kind of monster, to kill that much civilian just like that," she said, almost in a whisper.

"They were no civilians. My clan hosted the police force of our Hidden village. The majority were skilled ninjas in their prime. The others were either retired or at the Academy. He's an S-class missing nin now."

The girl seemed to almost have trouble breathing. She knew how it was to lose someone so close. Now to multiply by a whole clan… such horror. Such power. She would never diminish her own will for revenge compared to an other but… she could clearly understand his. Like he could to her's.

"Why did he do that? Do you know?"

"Hai. He told me before torturing me in an ultimate genjutsu. He wanted to check out something."

She was almost afraid to ask.

"Check out what?"

"How powerful he had become," answered Sasuke evenly, looking straight ahead.

She had very unpleasant shivers. Such a tale can only come out of a horror movie.

"Don't worry about me. I'll kill him someday. I'm well on my way to become strong enough. Same for my brother you saw earlier."

"He's your brother?" she asked, disbelievingly.

"Adopted half-brother actually, but to me, he's truly my brother of blood. He's all I've got left."

"Poor you," she said instinctively. She realized what she had said as Sasuke's lips were shaking upward, trying their best not to burst out laughing. It was a losing battle. They laughed a little together, thinking of the show off blonde.

"You know," said Sasuke soon after, "He suffered just as much as me. My clan was his family. His father from adoption was in another clan. He got killed about a week after the… death of our clan. He had all the rest of his father's clan to cling onto, but the very morning he learned about it, when we were just released from the hospital where my insane brother put us to, he came back to me, saying I was all he got left."

They sat in comfortable silence after that. Not that the subject was pleasant. But saying it all was…relieving. Sasuke was surprised he could say that much to a complete stranger. This must be what they mean by 'kinship in tragedy'. But he would not fool himself. He was not here on holiday, much less in a therapy. He had a mission to do. He doubted she was there on a mission for her village too. That meant only one other answer.

"So…" he began slowly, regretting to be the one to break the moment, "you became a missing nin from the Land of Snow to extract your revenge from the guy who killed your mother?"

She turned sharply toward him, frowning.

"How do you know I'm from Snow?"

"The sandals. They have slots on the sides to lock the ice grippers you put under them."

She relaxed a little, and smiled.

"Nothing escapes you it seems… You are right, on the three points. I'm missing from a Snow clan, that act as the ninja force of the country. I'm here to get the bastard and, to do that, I became a high B-class missing nin. If you're as strong as you say, you must be a high B-class yourself, even an A-class."

Sasuke was quite uncomfortable now. His heart told him he could trust her, but his mind told him not to take any chances. He tried to convince himself she could help them, in some way, but they would have to turn against her in the end. He hesitated before talking, and even then, it was in a sad voice.

"I'm about A-class. So is my brother. The girl with us is… I'd say lower B-class. She hides surprises but still have a long way to go."

"You really think you can beat me?"

She smiled knowingly, as if a child, three years younger than her, could possibly… But then she remembered what he said about his brother, his training he's going under to get to beat him and his rank… She lost her smile

"I don't care about rank here or to get noticed by employers. If you beat me before I got the chance to kill him, I'll never forgive you."

"Yeah… I know. I won't challenge you."

Sasuke got up and slowly walked in the direction Naruto and Sakura disappeared earlier. Knowing him, he'll have found a place that sells ramen in here.

* * *

The principle of the tournament was quite simple. You challenge someone, getting your adversary for this round, or you accept a challenge. If you did neither, you get one assigned to you. In the case of an uneven number, there is a battle royal amongst the three last that doesn't have adversaries. At the end of a match, if the loser die, he's simply tossed outside, out of sight. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura would have no problem taking what proof they need from them there. The losers that are simply injured can buy assistance from a medic nin provided by the organizers.

About those, Team Seven decided to let them go, unless they decided not to fight anymore. They would let the one in condition fight again and get tired. They could not make all the fighters disappear, one after the other, just like that. It would be way too suspicious. They would concentrate on the ones unable to pay for medical assistance and some that will stop fighting because they got an offer from one of the multiple clients present. Those sponsors would wait for them a long time.

Sasuke first challenged someone who looked weak enough. Actually, when the fight got going, the guy made things even easier for Sasuke . He attacked with taijutsu. Sasuke simply drew his fist and strike him right between the eyes, on the forehead. The poor bloke flew all the way to the wall of the makeshift arena. He was down for the count. Sasuke, looking generous, took his enemy on the shoulder and went the path for the medic room. When he got out of sight, he simply used the exit. He then made his way to their 'home base', the missing nin still unconscious on his shoulder. He tied him up and used some jutsu to be sure he would be asleep a while. Sakura was in a corner, making blindfolds to blind them all and silence them if they got too noisy. Then, she would interrogate the beaten up ninja so he tell her where he puts his belonging in this city. No way were they feeding them off of their own rations!

Sasuke got back at the City-Hall-turned-Arena, in the crowd section. He was looking for Naruto. He blessed the sparkling blonde hair. He just had to look at shoulder level in the crowd to spot the top of his head. Sasuke smirked at himself, planning to use that jab on his brother about his height. He got to Naruto's side and leaned against a pillar, watching two nobody fight. The Chuunin preliminaries were more exiting by far. Naruto finally spoke up.

"Your girlfriend is next."

"She's not my girlfriend," replied his black haired brother, without missing a beat.

"What's her name?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to reply but found no sound coming out. He forgot to ask!

"See? So busy were you to know stuff about her you forgot to gather basic intel about her like her name, village and rank."

"She's from Snow country, classed as a B-rank missing nin," Sasuke defended himself.

"An her name is Anhadraya Dôchi, or simply Draya," finished Naruto.

Sasuke's heart missed a beat. Instinctively, he searched for her, wanting to associate her name with her face. Naruto didn't lose a piece of this.

"Look like we won't reach the hundred percent ratios on this mission. Bye-bye bonus."

"Don't presume…"

"Your girlfriend's on stage."

Sasuke turned toward the combat zone quickly, and damned Naruto for his sharp social and emotional skills.

The girl was calmly facing a masked ninja in a simple dark, one piece suit. As the fight began, he erupted in some sort of kata, probably to show his superiority. A weakling. But then he started to take hidden weapons all around his suit to throw them at the missing Snow kunoichi. She evaded them quite easily, not caring that her predictable way of dodging was leading her where the other ninja wanted. It was all too obvious. He finally got her where he wanted, slightly unbalanced by a kunai throw, and then attacked with a katana concealed on his back. The guy might have choreographed that whole dance, but he forgot two things. First, attacks must always have the purpose to kill or cripple, else they're easy to figure out and plan out on them. The second thing is: she's a girl. Her balance center wasn't at the same place a guy's was. She made a weird hip move, turned on herself once and blocked/attacked the incoming blade with a funny looking padded glove that wasn't there a moment before. As the katana made contact, the weapon frosted entirely, along with the arms that were holding it. As the enemy nin was looking at them, Anhadraya walked to him, unthreateningly and whispered something in his ears. The only thing visible on the masked mans face, his eyes, showed horror. He screamed his lost and carefully walked toward the infirmary, his arms and weapons frozen before him.

There was some polite clapping and even a whistle. That one was from Naruto. The girl, annoyed, looked in their direction and recognized them. She took the nearest path leading to them. Naruto stretched and talked loudly.

"Well, it's my turn!"

Then, he whispered:

"Dont forget its your turn on guard duty after Sakura. I trust you, its your call."

As his brother left, Sasuke wanted to ask him what he meant by that but Naruto was already bowing charmingly toward Anhadraya who was coming fast. People were respectfully giving her place to pass.

Sasuke caught Naruto's departing words as his consent to reveal the truths of their mission to the Snow kunoichi. He though about it. She probably wouldn't tell anyone. She would not care much. Only her revenge mattered. He hoped never to become like that. Thankfully, Naruto was always there to remind him how fun life can be. Thinking about it, they could help the Snow ninja to get to her target faster as they would get other contestant out of her way.

"Nice match. Interesting finishing move. It reveals a lot about your origin though," greeted Sasuke.

"We're not that much reputed. I'm an unknown factor. Anyway, most of the MN's here aren't wearing slashed forehead protectors. Usually, the strongest doesn't care to show. Like you," she said, looking at his scratched Leaf headband protector.

"But unlike you. And you're no rooky."

"I like to mess with peoples mind," she admitted, smirking.

It was the first time she let some intended form of humour passed her lips. Sasuke found out he liked that twisted attitude.

"So... your brother's next, huh? It should be interesting, and informative."

"Maybe even more than you think," Sasuke sighed.

He took his decision there and then.

"Follow me after the match. I've got something to show you."

"Are you asking me on a 'ninja date'?" she said, clearly amused.

Sasuke blushed but smiled nonetheless. Ninja had weird hobbies sometime…

"You could say that. Dont dress up though, youre perfect like that."

The girl giggled lightly, proving she was, indeed, a girl under the warrior mask.

Naruto's match proceeded as Sasuke predicted: unexpectingly.

Naruto made about twelve shadow clones that swarmed his enemy and jumped on him, pilling high. They stayed like that a few seconds, the strange balancing clone tower showing there was action underneath. The enemy finally dispelled them with a short sword, one after the other in quick succession, since they were all so close. He stood easily two heads over Naruto and was glaring daggers at him. He charged with a blur and followed an armed-unarmed combat. Naruto didn't even draw a kunai. He caught the weapon by its flat each time it came close. The enemy tried many angles until Naruto draw two kunais and blocked an attack in a cross pattern over his head. Then he went on the offensive, using only fluid and circular slashing moves from one hand and straight, rigid, right angled stab from the other. The duality of the attack had the dark clad fighter on a hasty defence, the irregularity of the attacks clearly unexpected.

Naruto ended up disarming the man, a kunai under his throat. The match was over. Then, to the crowd's surprise, both Naruto and his enemy turned toward the assistance, and bowed. Naruto walked toward the exit of the battle ring while his competitor… disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Not the 'Im getting away' smoke but more like the 'I was a clone all along' kind of smoke.

The man chosen as a referee ran to Naruto.

"Where is your opponent?"

"Do you really want to know?" asked back Naruto, a cruel smile playing on his lips.

The man gulped. He was no ninja. Sometimes, it's better not to ask too many questions. Naruto was declared the winner and the other missing ninja… missing.

Despite Naruto's antics, Sasuke's attention was directed on Anhadraya. She was watching the combat area where the next fighters were stepping on. She had angry eyes, closed, shaking fists and killing intent barely kept in check. Sasuke turned to see a newcomer getting on the ring. Something was… familiar… about him. Not that he ever met him. Something in the way he carried himself… his clothing… Damn. He was from the Leaf. And she wanted him dead.

* * *

Draya walked at Sasuke's side, always alert. Even if the raven haired boy lived something similar to her, that didn't mean she had to trust him instantly. And that 'thing he wanted to show her' sounded fishy. He hid his ability well in his only match, not dragging it in length. She had no real reason to follow him, except her nagging curiosity. The little guy had an obvious crush on her, with which she could work, so it gave her an edge. She couldn't deny he was cute and smart but… still a little bit too young. Three years is a lot when you're sixteen.

Sasuke's mind was following a similar path, yet quite different. He hoped his judgment wasn't affected _that_ much from the girl's obvious effect on him. He was passed denial. He liked her a lot and was attracted too. Now he had to work with that. He wasn't trying to impress her now, was he? He simply wanted to do the right thing, right? He trusted his brother's judgment too. He wouldn't agree to anything stupid. The way he flirted with her showed he looked at her like any other girl, so he wasn't interested nor influenced by her like he was. He'd have to leave most decisions to Naruto concerning her. After a few minutes of walking, his ninja side came around that compromise, easing his mind.

He walked in their temporary home, closing the door behind him. A single candle lit the whole place in another room. Draya kept her senses sharp, scanning the darkness for an ambush. Sasuke didn't mind her and simply went in the other room. A door trap laid open in the middle of the floor. Sasuke kneeled, took the trap door and closed it. Or so it seem. Under the door was another stairway leading down.

"Clever," said Anhadraya. "A decoy in plain sighs. A genjutsu? Or does it lead somewhere?"

"If you get down, the trap door close on you and about fifty explosive notes on the wall detonate, making the glass shrapnel of the bottle glued on them fly at you. It's nasty."

The girl could only nod. This was no kindergarten trap, and he looked used to it. She followed him underground where more candles lit the place.

Naruto was in a corner, putting a new pair of shackles to the wall. Sakura was at the side of the entrance they just passed, looking at every single move the two ninjas they captured could make. They were blindfolded and gagged. Their shackles seemed to be made out of leather straps, preventing them from popping a joint in order to get free. They were sitting tight. Naruto turned toward Sasuke and Draya as they got in, sparring a single glance before getting back to his task.

Draya didn't understand what they were up to.

"Why are you keeping the ones beaten down here?" she asked.

"Because it would be hard to capture all of the MN's here in one go. We have to go gradually," said Naruto.

His answer just brought more questions.

"Why are you trying to capture all of the…"

Then she understood. She slowly turned toward Sasuke, who got out his forehead protector. The intact one. Draya slowly backed down toward the exit, but found it blocked by Sakura. Dammit! She was trapped!

"We do not intend to capture you," reassure her Sasuke.

"Told ya," said Naruto to Sakura from the back of the cave. "Now you owe me half of your part of the bonus!"

Sakura smiled wickedly.

"Since we'll be short of one MN, we won't have our bonus, baka!"

Naruto turned toward her, a shocked expression on his face.

"You tricked me! You dirty…"

The bickering went on but Draya zoned it out, concentrating on Sasuke who was rubbing his forehead, clearly embarrassed.

"Why would you spare me?"

She knew his motive for that, but not why the two others accepted it so well, if they had some professionalism.

"I have a deal to propose. You will give us, one way or the other, the ninjas you will beat. Alive preferably. In return, we won't challenge your target, refuse any challenge from him if possible or lose to him in the case we do not have a choice but to face him. We'll help you clear the way to him."

"What if I refuse?" she asked defiantly.

Naruto, who, unsurprisingly, didn't lose a word, turned toward her, surprised.

"If you refuse this, then you're stupid, but you'll accept, since we don't trust stupid people. You've got everything to win, nothing to lose, with less efforts."

"Won't you capture me in the end?" Draya asked Naruto, smiling sardonically.

"Probably, but that'll happen, that you cooperate or not."

Sasuke turned his back to them, clearly annoyed about this. Naruto was dealing this the hard way. But he promised himself to let him take the decisions. Toward the village, it was the best thing to do. But still…

"I accept your terms. I'll surrender myself at the end of this. Your village should have a decent prime for my head," she said on a neutral tone.

Sasuke kicked a wall, breaking a few stones. He turned back toward them, his emotional mask as hard as ever.

"We'll do it like this then. Sakura, your fight is getting close I bet. Keep on the installation, Naruto. I'll watch the prisoners."

He took Sakura's place at the entrance and stared at the MN from Hidden Rock. He threw a kunai at his feet, pining a sling on the side of his sandal on the ground as the captured nin shuffled in a more comfortable position. After that, he stayed statue-still.

Draya knew a dismissal when she saw one. She passed the exit, stopping by Sasuke a second who steadily ignored her.

* * *

Sakura got back in the cave of the lair, a girl on her shoulder.

"Guess it went well," Naruto greeted her. "How did you do it?"

Sakura dropped the unconscious girl on the floor, near the wall. Not so gently.

"She grabbed my butt as she had an advantage in taijutsu. She doesn't have Lee's strength but she's a beast at it. She seemed to have appreciated her move a little too much as she taunted me."

"And?" asked Naruto eagerly.

"I told her she only had to ask…"

Naruto threw his head back and laughed. What happen next was no secret. The girl was obviously distracted and made a mistake…That Sakura would not miss. But still… two girl fighting together like this… He had to know!

"The question remain, Sakura. What did you do?"

Sakura blushed hard but she raised her head in defiance.

"What I needed to do! Once I managed to get in her back, I… grabbed her chest. She seemed to appreciate from the moaning I heard. So was the crowd, for a second or two."

Naruto's mouth went agape. Then he shouted:

"That's my girl!"

He went at the defeated kunoichi and rolled her on her back. There was two trace of concusive explosion note on the girl's shirt. Naruto chuckled, shaking his head. He took care of putting the girl in restraining cuffs. Extra solids ones. He's not underestimating because it was Sakura who beat her. He took the opportunity too… check for injuries too. He was lucky. He had ointment for burns and bondage…BANDAGES! Yeah…

Sakura turned away, her face quite red.

"So…" began Naruto slowly, "...did you like it?"

"WHAT?"

"To fight like that. Did you like it?"

Sakura was so embarrassed! Why did he have to ask _that_ question?

"Yeah… It was… interesting. So what?"

"Okay. I just wanted to know."

Sakura seemed a little bit scared. Naruto never asked for something 'just because he's curious'. She decided it would be safer to change topic at this point.

"Where is Sasuke? The battles stopped for today. No death to report, but a lot of injuries. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day."

"He went to see what to expect from Anhadraya-san's target. Power, known clan, past alliances… a recon."

"It's never that simple," stated Sakura.

"You're learning good and fast! Hey, do you think her bra is too damaged to get back on? Anyway, with that much bandages it would only get in the way…"

Sakura didn't want to turn back toward Naruto. She was already red enough.

* * *

Sasuke found where Anhadraya's target stayed fast enough. The number of hideout a ninja would choose was limited in such a ghost town. This time, it was a single room, on the second floor of a rotting building. The stairs on the first floor were ruined, so the entrances were limited. You had to get creative. Hopefully, his target wasn't back yet. He had the time to prepare a welcome party. He sneaked in the ruined alley next to the building and put his hand on the wall. He climbed it, his limbs glued to the surface, staying as flat as he could. At the desired height, he steadied himself with his feet in place and made some seals with his free hands.

"Suiton: Desydratation no jutsu."

The technique, with the low level of power backing it, barely affected a fifteen inches wide area. The mortar turned to sand and Sasuke only had to push the bricks to make them fall inside. He crawled in, put the bricks back in place and made some low level genjutsu to make the wall appear intact. He was in the room next door of the one with a window. Although a window added to the surveillance of a hideout, it offer one more trap opportunity. The guy should be staying there. Still… Sasuke inspected the room carefully and found a few booby traps ready to send him in the next life. They were probably set there 'just in case'.

Sasuke moved to the wooden wall connecting this room to the one of his target. To the builder's credit, it was barely attacked by time's ravage. Even then, he had no problem pulling a few plank to make his way in. He put them back in place and finally checked the room he was in. Sasuke backed down in the shadows, in stealth mode. To most human's eyes, he simply melted in the darkness of the room. The place now looked simply occupied by a single bed, a small table, a lone chair and an unlit candle.

Twenty minutes later, a tall man entered the room. He was about to lit the candle but stopped. He backed down quickly and fell in the shadows, very much like Sasuke earlier.

The whole room was about twelve feet by fifteen. It looked deserted, but two ninjas were looking for each other, silent like the darkness draping them. Some deceiving reflections of weapons flashed at opposite sides of the room. After a few minutes of silence, the room erupted in violence. The two experts charged, weapons high. They were both silent, letting their weapon do the talking. They were cold, indifferent. Both of them were weighting their adversary power from the tip of their steel tools.

Sasuke, reaching some comprehension, disengaged**.** He did not put his weapon away though. The tall man did the same. Sasuke's understanding was confirmed, and he was not liking it one bit! It complicated things so much! Dammit!

"I see," did he said. "You're still a Leaf ninja. A spy. Probably are you checking the abouts and going of the missing nins. "

Sasuke took his time to sheat his kunai. Sensing no more threat, the adult put away his weapon too, but stayed alert.

"What makes you think that?" he asked.

"The fact that you didn't deny it right now. That you didn't attack me when I pulled back. Any MNs would try to get rid of the competition. To boost from the kill too."

"The way you're saying this, you're not a MN yourself."

Sasuke took out his unmarked forehead protector.

"You could have stolen this from any Genin of Konoha."

"Then, you have no certain way to totally trust me. It doesn't matter. Our team won't fight you. We're in a mission to capture the MNs of this tournament."

"Which ones?" the man asked, sitting on his bed.

"All of 'em," simply stated Sasuke, taking the chair. "There's a bonus attached."

The tall man looked up. They were official ninja on a mission, alright.

"But we hit a nag," kept on Sasuke.

"What kind of nag?"

"The…ethic kind. Have you ever been in Snow Country? In the enclave of a ninja clan more specifically? It seemed you would have killed a woman there. A civilian. Probably the wife of a ninja."

"How do you know this? Only the higher ops in Konoha knows! How?... Oh well… No sense in hiding it at this point…"

The ninja dropped on the bed and laid his head on it. He took his time recollecting the memories. Sasuke lit the candle, preparing for a long storytelling. He detailed the middle-aged man in front of him more closely. He looked… worn. He looked to be near his forty but wasn't more than thirty. His square jaw haven't see the blade of a sharp razor for months and parts of his simple muscle shirt had torns in it. His cargo pants were dirty and as Sasuke took a better look at his kunai, the edges had nick and were in a good need of a sharpening. It may be at the image of the man. He would have to do something about this too.

The grey eyes of the man took a far away look as he began.

"It was already a few years ago. Almost ten years. Damn. Time fly by too fast. I just took the hang of the job back then. Infiltering Hidden villages or simple enemy ninja clans. Learn and steal a few things and be out of there in the span of a couple of days. I got careless…"

* * *

**R&R**


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I claim no ownership over Naruto and his related characters, but I own every disclaimer I wrote about not owning them. HA! Take THAT!**

* * *

Nobu entered the ninja clan of Snow country easily enough. When asked for a pass, he just motioned them to get closer and showed a scroll from under his cloak. They quickly motioned for him to go along. The scroll was found on an Snow ninja spy in Konoha, two weeks ago. The Hokage gave him the mission to find out what interests they had in the Aburame clan, and how to use that interest to their advantage.

If a guard found him, he'd have to flee. Not much chances of that happening. But if the clan's head walk on him, he'll have to try and bargain his way out. Either that or to die. The Head of Snow country's prime defense clan, the last he heard, was something to be reckon with. The clan was in full expention and they probably had the ambition to become a Hidden Village, some day. They were building the place in that regard.

Nobu's plan: to get inside in broad daylight, rummage through his paper so the Head can't guess what he was looking for and to get out looking like some medical personnel. He would wait for the end of a guard shift to make his escape. With any luck, they won't think he's lagging behind. If they do, he'll be busted faster than a target practice in a Jonin bar.

The first part went surprisingly well. The Head's building had only one floor and was as long as he was wide. He fully expects it to be built like a maze inside to confuse intruders. The guards on the rooftops seemed to do their jobs quite well despite the boring aspect of guarding a property full of fighters during daylight. He guessed they expected spies or infiltrations in the confusion of the rush hour. Plan A wouldn't work then. Time for plan B: The good old' sewers. Underground water canalisation was the first thing installed at the foundation of this blooming, small village. They were deep underground to keep them from freezing and the water was always running for the very same reason. Nobu used a genjutsu of his creation in a small street, hiding his hand seals. People in the street simply saw him go his way and turn the corner of a building. If they had followed him, they would have seen him simply disappear, fading away in the blinding light of midday on the ice covered walls. You would have to be more than a little observant to notice that the holes on the cover leading in the sewers, right were the cloaked man mumbled something, were about two inch misplaced from where they were a few seconds prior. The genjutsu used a lot of power over a few seconds instead of trapping the enemy over a long period of time.

Down the man hole, about fifteen feet from the surface, Nobu used his best orientation skills. Magnetic rocks were placed inside the sewers walls to prevent any easy way out from any foreigner. The passages turned at weird angles too. The spaces were cramped. No square turns. All of that…to prevent access to the wall Nobu was now standing in front of. He totally ignored the door to his right, guessing it to be a trap, and rather obvious one after all of this.

The Leaf ninja examined the walls and sighed, happy. The ceiling, floor and surrounding walls confirmed it: one particular wall was made after the others. If they had to repair or connect pipes under the Kage's building, they had to destroy the whole wall. As simple as that. Nobu guessed they put fragile wires in it to alert them if anyone tried to dig through it. He would have to dig under it, praying it wouldn't be too thick.

He set himself for the task, using small metal stick he burrowed in the ground with a small hammer at two inches interval, on a surface of three foot square. He grabbed two of them with his bare hands and concentrated. Small wires of chakra immediately went from one stick to an other, charging them with their intent amount of chakra.

"HA!"

The ground seemed to explode all by himself with barely a sound. The hard stone was turned to rubble in a neat square of three foot wide and…two foot deep. Nobu frowned. It should have been five foot deep. As he ended up clearing the small boulder-sized rocks, he discovered why. A solid, scratched plate of metal was barring the way. The Leaf nin was relieved. It could have been so much worst! He carefully took a flask in his backpack and a bottle of water. He drank half of it (no sense in wasting good water!) and put twelve drops of the flask's content in the bottle. The colour changed to a fiery purple with green moving stripes. Nobu didn't lose a moment contemplating this and carefully traced the bottom edge of the hole with the strange mixture.

That particularly potent acid, found by Sand scientists in time of war, could get through metal in the blink of an eye when mixed with water. It was ironic that it could be found only in the tails of a rare breed of scorpions…in the desert.

Nobu patiently waited for the acid to melt its way in the metal plate. The characteristic green foam went on for some time, showing that the plate was very thick. Seeing that, Nobu draw a cross on the plate to divide it in four smaller parts with what was left in the bottle. He would lift four smaller chunk of metal instead of a big one. Thirty minutes later, the hissing of the acid died down. Nobu put on two pairs of leather gloves.

He pushed some charka in his arms and legs and moved the metal plates with the little space he had to grip them. Once this was done, he took his charka stick and hammer and got back to digging his way under the troublesome wall. Thankfully, this kind of metal looked expensive. It shouldn't go far behind that wall.

The spy ninja of the Leaf finally climbed back up to the other side, after digging himself some rough stairs. So much time had passed already. He had to hurry before the guards reported of the coming and going at the gate. He poked his head carefully in the room he emerged. Deserted. It was his lucky day! It was the washing room! He listened to any sound that would betray an enemy nearby having witnessed his arrival but he got nothing. He would have to hurry as this kind of place was often busy during the day. He choose, amongst the drying clothes, standard Snow ninja uniform. It would be less suspicious than his stealth clothes or his VIP costume he used to get in.

He went out of the room, unnoticed, and walked, a purposeful expression on his face, with no precise directions in mind. He explored swiftly, drawing a map of the building in his head and gathering bribe of conversation in hope to learn where was the Snow ninja's Head at this time. He spotted the way to his office quickly enough, never getting too near of it. His exploration trip ended abruptly when he spotted a guard practically running around, shouting for an intruder. Nobu almost cursed but got his cool back. He intercepted the guard, calming the man down.

"Keep it down! Do you want to alert him he's been discovered? What happened?"

"Sorry, sir!" apologized the nervous wreck of a ninja. "The sewers entrance have signs of an intrusion and we discovered a hole leading to this building!"

"Keep a squad in ambush at the sewer side of the hole. Organize a patrol on the roof. If he came from the ground, he'll probably escape from the rooftops!"

The man's eyes widen.

"Now go! I'll take this to the boss."

The man ran off toward the exit. Nobu looked around at the other having witnessed this, all of them unsure of what to do.

"What are you waiting for? Spread the word quietly, get back at your working area and search it thoughtfully! Get going!"

People scattered around, freeing his way to the Head's office. Nobu strode there with a sure step, planning his escape. His chances were low, but he'd have to try. He knocked twice on the door and entered, not waiting for an answer. He closed the door behind him as he started to speak.

"An intruder managed to enter the building. He's currently unfound, having entered by digging a tunnel from the sewer," he announsed at once.

"Is that so?" calmly asked the man, hunched over a small stack of paper.

"Hai. I don't have more than five minutes to negotiate with you my safe return to my village before the guards find out I'm here," Nobu said, bowing his head.

The man behind the desk smiled, amused.

"Good initiative. You just lengthen your breathing time for at least five minutes."

At that precise moment, Nobu felt something poke the back of his neck. Turning slowly, he saw a thin, razor-sharp icicle coming from the floor, ready to impale his head from behind. He never even felt it coming! Sweat perled down his cheek. The Kage haven't even lift his head when he entered the room! His hands were always in sight! The small ice construct melted down the next second, disappearing as if it was never there, not even leaving a puddle of water. The powerful leader finally looked up at him, joining his hand together.

"You have now four minutes and forty-five seconds left to convince me," added the man as if discussing a raise with his secretary.

"Hai. I'm from the Hidden Leaf and we currently detain an Snow ninja in our cells. We found from him that you have an interest toward the Aburame clan. My mission is to get here and find out the reason. In a case like this one, I have the authority to make a deal with you, even if we do not have an official alliance."

The Head of the clan leaned back and tapped on his chin, deep in thoughts.

"I could ask you to reveal me what you know of the Aburame clan against your life," he pointed out.

"Would you not instead deal my life against the one of the ninja we have in our cells?" replied Nobu, impassive.

"True…I guess I could. Let's make this story short. Here's something to finish your mission. I want the Snow ninja to become the strongest but something's missing."

"Which is?" politely asked Nobu.

"Forms of life adapted for support combat. You have a clan that breed canine if I remember well. Another that breeds insects. You have more summon contracts than any other villages. Our ninjas are strong, individually, but they can only depend on their own, human powers. No matter how much you look at it, a master ninja of Snow can't be advantaged over an equally strong ninja of another village who have some kind of ally. We made research about this and discovered something of great potential: ice flea. They have been raised to our climate. Simplt establishing contacts, and managing them, have proved to be… difficult. The test candidates found their appearance altered and their personalities taken over by something of poor intellect and over-aggressivity. We need the secrets and techniques of the Aburame clan for them to live peacefully with their insects contracts."

The Kage got up and walked around his desk. Nobu was nervous but he knew he wouldn't be killed right after being explained what he needed to make a deal.

"But this can't become public knowledge. You'll have to escape this village. Don't expect to leave unscarred though."

"I expected that much," said Nobu, wincing.

The Head took a battle pose before saying one last thing.

"I want it to be _you _to come back here, with something your Kage want in exchange for the Aburame secret. Don't be shy to ask. You won't gain an advantage on us just by knowing one or two things about our ways. Don't forget to free our spy."

His hands flashed in a long chain of seals. The problem was: at the speed he was going, Nobu barely had the time to put up a defense! He used his earth charka to the best of his ability, making his stone forearm protector he wore under his Jonin uniform to grow. That technique could built, in a mere moment, a hard stone wall six feet tall by six feet wide and sixteen inches thick. Unfortunately, he didn't have that mere moment. His shield was barely three feet square when an unknown attack hit him full force. Later, he would think of it as some kind of cold twister that shot sharp snow, hails and freezing blades of wind.

The wall behind him gave up a moment after he lost his footing. The attack effortlessly sent him in the half-destroyed wall and well passed the limits of the building. Nobu gritted his teeth, fighting to keep conscious and his wall technique growing. As it was, the technique was getting eroded by the wind attack at the same rate he was growing it. It was the only thing stopping him to be blown apart in pieces. Nobu 'rode' the attack high in the air under the surprised eyes of the guard watching the exits of the sewers. He clearly could imagine the Head of the clan telling the guards erupting in his office to capture him, dead or alive.

Nobu tried to block the shock of the fall as much as he could but his freezing form moved sluggishly. He rolled over a few meters and stopped on the wall of some house. He was sprawled on the ground and wanted nothing more than to stay there and groan in pain. Not good. He got up in a leap and ran around the building, trying to leave the place his pursuer all saw him land as fast as possible. He made his way toward the far end of the wall surrounding the village in what he guessed was an heavily guarded section. His pursuers would not think he'd take such a risk while injured. The wall was high and well watched.

But, as it often was, the guards were looking outside of the village, probably unaware of the commotion inside. They didn't expect someone to want to force his way _out_ instead than _in_. Nobu didn't push his luck too much and quietly entered a house near the wall to take his breathing back. He did, for two whole seconds, until he heard a voice.

"Honey? Is that you? No need to get in with your sneaky ways! I heard you!"

Before he could hide, a short woman entered the room. Nobu didn't think twice and jumped on her. He hit her on the neck, making sure she didn't scream. She barely had an air of surprise before fainting.

Nobu let her slowly glide on the ground. He used a simple technique to lit the fireplace and allowed himself a few minutes to warm his limb back to life while planning his escape. Three minutes later, he was ready. He saw quick movement from his right. A rough stone blade shot from his forearm and slashed at the attacking ninja.

But it was no ninja. It was the woman. She woke back up and tried to sneak on him with a katana. Her chest was now ripped open sideway, the rough blade having too easily batted the weapon away. Blood splattered around. Even on her daughter, standing on the side, having watched it all. This time, Nobu did swear. He dashed to the kid, who simply had the time to open her eyes wider before being punched right in between them. A chop on the neck on a kid that young could be dangerous with those fragile bones. He knocked her out instead.

"Sorry, kiddo. I had no intention of doing that."

Nobu made a henge of the woman, keeping a lot of blood on his disguise. He ran out of the house, screaming and running to the wall. Nobu screamed, asking for help to the ninja on the top of the wall, directly above him.

"My daughter! My daughter is…She… Help me! He's here!"

The Snow nin, just having word of the intruder, jumped down only to be greeted by two strong fists. Nobu dropped the henge and took the sandal of the barely unconscious enemy. He put them on, the footwear miraculously to his size. Some fire god was watching over him!

He jumped on the wall and to the other side. He dashed through the snow, gripping the ice hard with his feet, trying to lose the numerous ninja and guards now on his tail, on top of dodging left and right the long range techniques they were hurling his way. Nobu never stopped his mad run, making hand seals on his own. It would be much weaker, since he didn't have his own sandals with hard stone in it to amplify the technique, and no solid rock right beneath his feet, but it would have to do. To make up for it, he overpowered it with as much charka as he could. He would be low on resource to make any other power-hungry techniques for a few hours, but if it worked, he wouldn't have to.

"Tectonic steps no jutsu!"

His run slowed a lot, his foot taking the time to hit the icy ground hard. The result was unexpected. Usually, the earth elemental charka flowed under his feet and dig the earth to find strata of earth or rock plates. Then it moved them around violently, creating a strong, located earthquake. This time though, it travelled in the hard ice at high speed, even faster than it would in the air or ground. It finally found the earth deeper down. It was one big strata of century old compressed, frozen stones. The energy, like boiling water on a frozen glass, ripped it to shred. A low rumbling was heard on the surface, but it was short-lived. The icy ground exploded behind Nobu, following each of his step. Gigantic chunk of ice flew from Nobu's path like a flameless firework. The phenomenon took even more strength after the ten steps that lasted the technique. Nobu grew uncomfortable. Why did the ice keep ripping itself up behind him?

"Uh-Oh. Chain reaction. Not good."

Nobu tried to push himself harder, but he already was running at full speed! He had little charka to push in his pained muscles. After a few minutes, he realized he was running ahead of a mountain-sized horizontal avalanche. He finally lost his footing as the ground erupted from under him and threw him in the air. He rolled himself in a ball, letting his body being roughly carried ahead and up by the ground who was finally releasing centuries of cumulative strain, contained in solid ice.

He woke up in the low branches of a tree, probably hours later. The horizon was filled by a chaotic, frozen wasteland. How could he be in a tree then? Oh. It had been uprooted. Nobu pulled a particularly painful splinter in his back side and carefully climbed down. The trip back would be unpleasant.

* * *

"There you go," sighed Nobu. "That was the good old time. Fighting at the edge of death with glee, clashing against spectaculars enemies stronger than you and survive to tell about it. The good old times..."

"What happened when you got back to Snow country? Did you sell the Aburame secret to them?" asked Sasuke eagerly.

"That…is another mission!" Nobu told him, a playful smirk lighting his dark expression.

Sasuke could barely believe this tale. And how much he've been captivated by it! But it scared him to see what the man had become. The worse was that he didn't know if the path he choose himself would leave him in such a state twenty years from now.

Still, they had more pressing matter to attend now.

"Well, it look like the past got back at you. There's a girl here that mean to kill you."

"So what?" shrugged Nobu. "She's going to challenge me, I'll beat her up and that's going to make one less Missing Nin for you to bother."

Sasuke barely managed to control himself. The older ninja saw that, but didn't understand his reaction. That only fuelled Sasuke's anger.

"Are you still a Leaf Ninja or what? I'm not talking about affiliation or the sign on your forehead protector. I mean in your head. Dammit! You don't even seem to realize how wrong this sounded just now! The girl I'm talking about, in case you haven't made the connection yet, is the girl you saved…or should I say didn't kill, in your story."

He finally got a reaction: a raised eyebrows.

"You're kidding, right? How could she even remember me!"

"Maybe it's a coincidence then," shrugged Sasuke. "It must be another ninja that infiltrated that Snow village ten years ago, killing a woman in her house in front of her daughter before fleeing."

"Hey! I didn't mean to attack a civilian!" Nobu protested.

"You still did. And today, you don't mind beating up her daughter, maybe even killing her? You're on duty after all. You didn't even bother of her motive!"

The ninja had the decency to look ashamed.

"It's not like that…It's…Awww, man! I guess I got used to it all by now. It's way passed time I take a break from this. Will the Hokage allow it, that's another story."

"We'll check that out later. Now is the question of what we do with the girl."

"No offences but…my solution still stand. She's a MN."

"She became Missing because of you!" almost screamer Sasuke, losing his temper. Even the small candle seemed to burn brighter at his outburst. "Don't hide from this! The situation is different."

"What do you _want_ me to do? I can't bring her mother back to life!" Nobu defended himself.

"But you can't kill this girl either. If you do, I'll make you eat living spiders until they eat you back from the inside," growled Sasuke, now bothering to take sides.

The man looked back at the young man in front of him. He was serious.

"Do you happen to know a guy named Ibiki?"

* * *

The next days were busy. They each had their matches and the number of Missing Ninjas dropped noticeably. Naruto seemed to have the time of his life. So much occasion to use new combat techniques!

In most of his matches, he was simply dancing around his enemies. In one of them, he really did. He got on the battle ground with earbuds firmly plugged in his ears, but the music was so loud they could hear it in the crowd. He was even snapping his fingers to the beat. The match began and the Mist Missing Ninja attacked quickly, trying to maximize his advantage. He would not let the arrogant blond adjust. It was too late for that. He already fell in Naruto's trap.

A giant water spray erupted between the two fighters, targeting Naruto. Sasuke, in the crowd, felt the ambient humidity drop significantly. It was no surprise where the ninja took his base material for his attack. But now the air was too dry for any other attack of that kind, and Naruto dodged that one. In fact, he simply turned on himself, bouncing to his music, his eyes still closed. His head was bobbing up and down and he kept snapping his fingers.

The poor mist ninja looked like such a fool. He tried again some other direct water attack and even threw some weapons. None of those seemed to land on Naruto who dodged an attack as it started. Sasuke wanted to laugh his head off. Naruto, from the start, imposed his own beat. The enemy attacked to that beat and Naruto, feeling it in one way or another, evaded it basing himself on that very same beat. It looked as if the Mist ex-ninja missed Naruto by a mile. It was often too late to correct his shots and when he tried, he was always a step behind. He was raging and it pushed him to try harder and harder…

The thing with ninja battle is that's its usually done in the span of a few minutes. Even seconds sometime. When they are both of higher level, or of equal power, it may take more time. Seeing the blatant difference in skill, it was unusual for this battle to last about half an hour.

Naruto's adversary was panting hard, head lowered, sweat dripping from his eyebrows. His face was red and his hands shaking. Naruto was bouncing on both feet in front of him. He still had to attack. The poor bloke in front of him tried everything he had, numerous times, in all the combinations he could think of. He could only follow Naruto's jumping form now.

The blond seemed to have waited for this moment only. Getting closer, he used one of his small jump to make a simple, but powerful roundhouse kick. His enemy didn't even try to dodge it. In his weakened state, he was hypnotized and his reaction time was at his slowest. He didn't get back up.

Anhadraya kept her matches short. One MN from the grass knew what it felt to be mowed. Sasuke too, kept his battle to the minimum. He had other things on his mind. In one of them, he simply made five clones and lined with them. They all made a Katon, engulfing the battleground in flames. The crowd truly felt the heat of the match. The enemy nin, after the flame cleared, was flat on the ground, shaking and whimpering, the back of his clothes fuming.

Sakura, on one of her match, threw smoke bombs everywhere right from the start. The spectators saw flashes of light followed by explosions and an eerie silence. A light wind jutsu then filled the air, courtesy of Naruto. Sakura was kneeling over the downed ex-Suna ninja. She was poking him with one finger, getting no reactions.

The losers were all cuffed in the hideout base. There had been two dead today. They were disgusted by that side of the job but they resigned themselves to cut the heads as to bring back proof. They hoped that this particular luggage wouldn't get too heavy. They would rather liked for them to walk all the way to Konoha.

Three others, leaving their matches, were caught on their way to the medical room. This was supposed to be a week long tournament, but three days after starting it, they were already getting short of contestants. Not counting themselves, Anhadraya and the Leaf spy, they were about a dozen MN left. Sasuke still had to find a solution to their problem. If it kept on like this, confrontation would be unavoidable.

Sometimes, events can play in your favour. Sometime they don't. This time, it solved itself, without any planning involved. Not that it was painless…

* * *

Naruto was getting ready for the day's match, humming lightly. He looked at his brother, in a corner, mulling dark and depressed thoughts.

"Cheer up, Aniki. We'll cross that bridge when we'll get there."

"What if things go wrong because we haven't been able to do anything?"

"What if you're too tired and stressed to act right when the time comes, and panic?"

That sent Sasuke's head in his hands, totally lost. Now he had to think not to think about it! His head was hurting.

"Keep on like this and I'll feel as if I can't trust you to keep an eye over the prisoners."

Sasuke threw a dirty look at his brother.

"That's more like it! Show some spirit!" Naruto said, as joyful as ever. "Focus! I'll be ahead with Sakura."

He walked out, joining Sakura who was meditating upstairs. Naruto recognized it instantly as he taught her the technique himself. She was all hyped up and needed to push back some charka in her coil.

"Nervous?" asked Naruto, smiling softly.

"More like...eager. Too eager. That's troubling me," she admitted.

"You're simply finding that fighting someone in a real match, not a spar, can be an incredible high. You feel more alive and…"

"Not…quite that. Of course there is that but…"

"But?"

"She's a girl. Again. They seem to target me as if I was safer to deal with!"

"Is that what's bothering you?" asked Naruto, lifting an eyebrow.

"Yes! She's clearly underestimating me! But at the same time…"

"Yeeeeessssss?" proded Naruto.

"I'm eager to fight her like the other one! It was so exiting! Laugh all you want, mock me, tease me to death but GOD! It's almost addicting!" she finished, throwing her hands up in the air.

Naruto was looking at her with saucer eyes.

"What have we done?" he whispered. "We created a perverted fighting monster!"

Sakura crossed her arms, cheeks flushing red.

Naruto bent down and grabbed her chin between two fingers, lifting her head so he could look at her in the eyes.

"But you're _our_ little monster. And we'll make sure this side of you is carefully exploited. The way you admitted it, I guess you like the trill to be ashamed too, now and then."

Sakura didn't know where to put herself. Should she hide? Kiss him senseless? One thing was for sure: all of her previous meditation was down the drain.

"You're lucky, Sakura. Your match is the second one planned today. You'll be able to put all this good energy to use," winked Naruto, straightening up.

Sakura jumped on her feet, a living ball of nerves.

"What are we waiting for then? Come on!" she exclaimed, jogging toward the exit.

Naruto leisurely followed behind. He was slowing her down on purpose. She was getting more antsy by the minutes. How frustrated will she be when she'll realise that the first match begin in almost one hour.

* * *

Once the arena filled in, many suspicious glare were sent in Sakura's and Naruto's way. They sent their own around. They were prepared for that. They knew they would be suspected for the multiple disappearances. They had been careful. Until now, only those who lost went missing. Since some of the matches were quite violent, it wasn't surprising that some may not be in shape to fight this soon. Nonetheless, they would be watched closely after these matches. It didn't matter. They were prepared for that too. One of the organizer hurried toward them.

"Greeting. The match orders of today changed. You…" he said, pointing Sakura, "…are going to fight her," he finished, pointing Anhadraya leaning against a far wall. "Your match is still second. The first one is going to be you…" he continued, pointing Naruto this time, "…against him," he finished, pointing at Nobu. The man hurried away, being allowed to do so by Naruto who was restraining Sakura of grabbing him by the collar and shaking him until she get explanations.

She looked at Naruto, frustrated.

"You're going to allow that so easily?" she said.

"They are putting us to the test. They aren't sure we are the one responsible for the ninja who went… well… missing. We have to keep the play on for a while."

"I know! One more reason to put objections! If we just accept this, it's almost like admitting our guilt!"

Naruto seemed to think about it but then raised his shoulders.

"You're right. But it doesn't matter now."

"Doesn't MATTER? You don't have to fight against HER!" Sakura almost yelled to his face.

"Where's your fighting spirit? You've got someone stronger than you to face! Aren't you exited?" asked Naruto playfully.

"It's not the same! I don't want to fight _her_! To have a chance to win, I'll have to fight as if I wanted to kill her! If I don't, I'll lose, or die! What am I supposed to do?"

"Your best, what else? I've got to go. I have to face a ninja of our own village."

There he went, and now Sakura felt bad. She totally forgot he would have to face an experienced Jonin of their own village. Draya would be in a fitting mood to fight her after that too. She looked at her. The ex-Snow ninja looked royally pissed.

Naruto went on the arena, hands in his pockets. Nobu was already standing there, seemingly nervous. Probably didn't he know what to do either. Naruto's lips began to lift, until they formed a full, evil smile. His toothy grin was nothing to put Nobu to ease.

Naruto finally took his hands out of his pockets and charged. His attacks, taijutsu only, were ferocious and brutal. To anyone present, including Sakura who rather not entertain any idea of victory this time, Naruto was the underdog. Nobu was bigger, stronger and looked like the perfect seasoned ninja. Both of them had won all of their matches. Still, Naruto was just a kid. That may be why people blinked when the older man began to fall back under the blond's assault.

Then, the blows began to land. The senior ninja took a direct to the jaw, before finding back his balance. Followed one to the stomach. Naruto never paused and kicked him in the head, rising a foot high, sideway. Nobu's steps began to falter. Any attempt at disengaging, or throwing a jutsu was met by a fast dash and hard glowing blue fists. Nobu avoided those at all costs.

Anhadraya was livid. How _dare_ he? It was _her_ target! They had a DEAL!

And what seemed unlikely happened. After one placed fist on his liver, the elder ninja fell on his knees, clutching his side, only to receive two chops, one at each sides of his head. He fell sideway on the arena floor, in silence. Naruto was sweating a lot but otherwise intact. To most people present, that was a very real display of brute strength. Naruto took his fallen adversary on his shoulder, carrying him toward the exit. A man, who looked like he had been hired by the organizer to take car of their security, meant to intercept him. Anhadraya got to him first.

"How COULD you? He was MY target! I don't care about any others but this one is MINE!"

Naruto frowned. She already said too much. Things would get very ugly now, and fast. He needed about ten minutes free.

"Sakura!" Naruto called over his shoulder.

"Yes, Naruto?" she asked nervously, having just caught up with him.

"Your adversary is here. Do your best."

The blond threw a smoke bomb on the floor. As Draya and the ninja from the committee shot forward to catch him, many flash bombs, acting like a stroboscope, lit the smoke brightly. It finally cleared, showing, predictably, an empty spot. Naruto's pursuer were about to engage the chase but a nagging voice stopped them in their tracks.

"I'm still heeeeeeeeeere…Draya-chan. Don't worry. He'll come back, because he won't leave me behind. The situation changed. You want to fight Nobu? You'll have to beat me first," teased Sakura.

This effectively stopped her. Seeing the hired arms of the TWT turning around to follow Naruto's cooling trail, Sakura decided to push their buttons some more.

"Hey! Bird brains! What if I decide to take your committee hostage while you're gone? Who's going to pay you then?"

That effectively put a stop to any idea of tracking down the blond.

"You…deceiving bastards…You tricked me to help you gather all the ninja presents. You're going to pay dearly."

Sakura backflipped to land on the fighting area.

"If you have something to tell me, come here and make your point," she said.

Draya looked like she would gouge Sakura's eyes out with her fingernails. She walked to the arena, ignoring the murderous look the rest of the ninja sent them. She just admitted being part of a plot to capture them after all. Despite the nagging feeling that something was going very wrong with this tournament, the investors didn't interfere, going so far as to try to get out of her field of vision. It was an unnecessary measure though, as she had eyes only for the pink haired kunoichi right now.

Sakura felt very uneasy. That gaze promised certain death. She mentally apologized to Sasuke. She'd have to fight to win, aiming to kill, or she'd die there.

* * *

Naruto got in the 'Leaf-cave' as he jockingly dubbed it, Nobu hot on his step. Sasuke turned toward them, rising an eyebrow at the sight of Nobu.

"They found us out, Aniki. It's time to drop the masks and gather what's left of the Missing Nins."

"Where's Sakura?" he asked, getting up from his guard duty.

"Probably fighting Anhadraya to stall some time for our assault and scrap up a surprise effect. Draya must be pissed: I faked to beat Nobu and fled with him."

"So…" began Sasuke, frowning.

"We'll figure what to do with her once the mission will be over," sighed Naruto, massaging his neck to relieve some tension.

The three Leaf ninjas put their true forehead protectors and dashed outside, leaving the prisoners unguarded. Having heard the kind of traps the fanatic kunoichi put a little bit everywhere, they decided it would be wiser to sit still.

* * *

Draya was still far apart from Sakura. They were studying each other for a few seconds before both their hands flashed in action. Draya's hands were switching from seals to seals in a smooth, fluid motion that seemed to blur together to the naked eye. Sakura chose to dive her hands in two differents pouches, one on each of her side, and threw three balls from each in Draya's direction. They exploded in a line in between the two fighters as the ex-Snow kunoichi sent a barrage or thick ice shards. Simple, but effective. The area effect ninjutsu was dense enough to make dodging them impossible. Even at the range they were, she knew her adversary would have a hard time jumping over or under them. With the purple smoke screen and flash bomb that she threw, it would be downright impossible for her to do so.

Despite the odds, Draya heard her enemy running full speed toward her. She braced herself, wondering from which part of the smoke screen she would come out. Somehow, the sound was…off.

Above! Sakura got out of the smoke, running upside down on the ceiling, throwing a net charged with explosive notes toward the floor, above Draya's head. Draya threw herself on the back to win the fraction of second she needed to achieve the counter attack. A chilling wind gathered around her and pushed forward, sending the net back toward her owner. The net, being caught by Draya's attack on the side, averted it's course by itself, missing Sakura while the wind kept up toward it's entended prey.

Sakura could brag about a lot but she wasn't able to run faster than the wind. She tried to dodge, the right arm and leg she used to push herself from the ceiling taking the blunt of the attack. She landed heavily on her other side, rolling further and grimacing from the sharp pain in her frozen limbs. She lost most of her mobility. She had to kept on attacking or she would be a sitting duck. She threw a pair of kunai toward Draya who parried them easily. As the two projectile lost their henge, she understood, too late, that she was meant to intercept them.

Explosive notes balls! They must have been compressed together and prepared to spread in all direction once they were hit. They rained all around her. Taking advantage of the distraction, Sakura struggled trough one hand seals. Seeing the notes inert for the moment, Draya guessed instantly what the technique Sakura was working on would do. If she simply jumped out of the way, the insane amount of notes would explode, damaging them both and risking the building's integrity. She had to stop that crazy bitch!

She signed a technique herself, the one with the most chance to counter her bold move. Being older, with more training, she managed to finish her technique a second before Sakura who needed the double time to make hers since she was doing it one-handed. She was glad of her choice of technique when Sakura let out a giant fireball that closed the distance between them. Draya had some advance with her chilling gale she sent, once again, against Sakura. But this one was continuous. Like the fireball, it was coming from her mouth, but she had both hands at the sides of her mouth, directing the attack on a wider scale than the fireball.

The fiery ball stopped dead in its track and instantly started to back down. Sakura knew she was losing ground and the battle. Draya was using more breath than her to maintain her technique but it was getting close to her too fast. It was already a miracle her fireball technique worked with one handed seals and a reduced mobility. She had to use her frozen hand to blow the fire from her mouth. She didn't feel the heat at all! At…all.

That was crazy. But she could not think of anything else right now. Before doubting herself, her own fireball closing in on her, she pushed her breath harder, putting more pressure on her lungs and reducing the circle of her mouth. She reduce the circle of her finger even more, sliding her index on her thumb. The result was a piercing line of concentrated fire. It pierced trough the raging gale to hit Draya square on the chest, lighting a few notes around. But Sakura payed the price of yet another bold move as the remaining of the gale, far from being dissipated, went unblock on her target.

Two explosions detonated at the same time. One of black smoke and red fire, the other producing white snow and a bluish glow. Sakura was delivered of the smoke first, frozen, barely able to move a limb, on the ground. Her lips were blue and her face a ghostly grey. The spectator still present turned toward the other side of the arena expectingly. They were all so distracted they failed to see the new threat coming.

One of the few participants left got smashed in the face by a rising slab of earth. Another got wired tightly, right before disappearing and getting replaced by a log. The original ninja bounced off the floor from where his kawamiri led him, numerous clones of a familiar blond ninja swarming him.

The smoke on Draya's side finally cleared, but none was looking at her now to be amazed of her still standing form. Her clothes were partially burned and fuming. She lowered her guard a moment to assess the situation. The room was a fighting mess. Her opponent was down for the count, nearing a state of hypothermia. The remaining participants were on a losing battle against her ex-partner and…her target! The murderer! He looked to be in shape, even after the beating he received not so long ago. One of her arm was burned worst than the other. She still had a lot of mobility in it but the pain was there. She formed a blade of ice all around it, letting the coldness cool down the painfully stinging sensation. She attacked the first ninja she came across. She simply dove the blade in his back before he could get to Sasuke. The nameless enemy fell to the ground, giving her a clear view of Sasuke's face. She threw him a look full of meaning. He would pay for this treachery. Later.

On the other side of the room, Naruto was kneeling beside Sakura. He put his hands on top of her chest and began infusing chakra. He didn't target her coil, nor her pathway. It would be way too dangerous to activate her system too fast right now and he couldn't see her charkra pathway anyway. He simply sent a good amount of chakra in her, trying to diffuse the gentle energy on her whole body as much as possible. Sakura's coil slowly began to absorb the neutral energy as it's own, converting it into warmth. Naruto took Sakura in his arm and carried her quietly to an empty room, far from the prying eyes. He had to rise the temperature of her body until she could build up her own natural body warmth. In anyway possible…

* * *

Sasuke dispatched yet another MN from mist. They really seam to have trouble keeping their ninja inside their village, do they? Nobu was fighting both his adversaries at a lazy pace, none of them being higher than a B-class MN. Even then, those were Chuunin level, nothing more. Take in account that they never seemed to even try to team up and that they were attacking while angry, it explained why Nobu had a reason to not be cautious. Naruto's clone took care of watching his back and once, deflected a lost kunai that would have taken him I the head. He could have seen it if he had been cautious. Sasuke and Naruto frowned and shared a look.

Draya was fighting as well as she could, despite her obvious injuries. Naruto's clones took to circle around her to be sure she wasn't automatically attacked first. Sasuke's finger were nimbly handling wires, catching falling ninja before they hit the floor and tying them up before swingning them in a corner. The flow was so smooth you could have seen a black haired, three-dot eye'd spider catching flies in her web and storing them away for further use. Nobu used a few earth jutsu to harden some part of his body either to shield himself from technique and projectiles or to deliver crushing blows. Naruto's clones mainly took care of the crowd control. He made sure the ninjas were isolated from each others and that every exit was blocked. He took some pleasure using simple flash bombs on some and simply making them spin on themselves with a few well placed blows that sent them on Sasuke's wires path. The next moment, they were tied up against the wall. Naruto never got tired of seeing that.

Before long, the room became quiet, a few fires from stray techniques dying down. The organizers of the tournament were back against a wall, trying to learn a technique to disappear through it or melt in the carpet patterns. Their ninja bodyguards were lined up against the far wall, with the piled up MN.

"Please! We haven't done anything wrong! We offer no contracts to those ninjas ourselves! It's only business!" pleaded one of them, on his knees, all pride forgotten. Unfortunately, he choose the wrong thing to say.

"Business?" asked Naruto. "And you think that it keeps your hand clean? You should see us, ninja, as very potent and destructive weapons. You provide weapons for people who have less than honorable goals. That makes you mass destruction weapon dealers. Even if you're not using them, you put it in the hands of those that will."

The poor man wimpered, thinking their fate sealed in this room.

"Please…Don't kill us! We'll do anything!" said a woman in the most pleading voice she could muster. Her eyes spoke for themselves. She would lower herself to any height they asked to be allowed to live.

"We never planned on killing you," stated Sasuke, neutral.

"Yeah! We'll even let yourself go. You know what? Keep on the good work!" kept on Naruto on a jovial voice, making a thumbs up.

The organizers seemed utterly confused now.

"You…want us to keep…this line of work?"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Naruto, a little too enthusiastic. "Make more Tournament like this one. Invite all the MN you can find. And when you do…"

"Make sure that Konoha is aware of it," ended Sasuke, darkly. "We wouldn't want to miss the fun now, wouldn't we?"

The organizers swallowed hard, as one. The message was clear. They were working for them now, as underground agent. The pay would be lousy but they could keep their life in exchange and maybe scrape up some minor protection. In this situation, it was more that they hoped for. They nodded. The Leaf ninja began picking up their catches while Anhadraya disappeared somewhere, probably to heal her wound. They didn't fool themselves. They would hear of her soon enough.

Sasuke turned toward Naruto, desperate for some advice while they put the last of the MN on his feet to get outside the building.

"Where does this leaves us now?" he asked.

"No clue, but I can deliver the question to the original."

On that cue, the clone dispelled himself. Sasuke stood there, frozen. A clone? How could _this_ have been a clone! He held a conversation as if he was the original just a few minutes ago! It was the first time that Sasuke couldn't distinguish Naruto from one of his substitute. He was getting scaringly good at this. He looked around and saw Naruto walking out of a back room, a blushing Sakura at his side.

"What…" he began, only to receive a murderous look from Sakura. He decided to let the matter drop.

"I got your question, Sasuke," told him Naruto.

"How come? I asked it to your clone!" he said slowly. Naruto opened his mouth to answer but then closed it, thoughtful.

"I…learned it. When he got dispelled, I learned everything that happened in the battle and after as if I lived it myself…out of my body. Strange."

Sasuke stored the information for further use. If they could apply this to training…

"Great, but meanwhile we still have the problem of one Snow MN that want Nobu's life. She left moments ago, probably to heal herself. She'll come back for him. She'll challenge him in the open."

"That solve things, no?" asked Naruto. "Do you really feel like getting in her way, learning of what happened? Can you really blame her?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto, unsure.

"So we should let her kill him?" asked Sasuke.

"Can she?" answered Naruto, undisturbed.

"Is it better to let him kill her?" kept on Sasuke.

"Will he?" countered Naruto without missing a beat.

"YOU'RE NOT HELPING!" yelled Sasuke.

Sakura took a step back, even if the outburst was not directed at her. She rarely saw Sasuke in such an angry state. His face was strained and his fist closed. He seemed to be radiating heat.

"How much better is it to be in this state, aniki. You're going to have to calm down and face the fact that we can't predict or plan everything. There will always be variables. Draya is one big variable. We'll have to improvise on the spot."

Sasuke lost his angry pose but still seemed to be on edge.

"Easy for you to say. You are always at ease making things up. Your damn unpredictable moves are the reason I managed to unlock my three dot sharingan in combat, I bet."

They interrogated every MN they had, asking about where they left their supplies. It took most of the rest of the day. They settled down for the night, keeping turn at guard duty. They guessed that Draya would rest as much as she could but it wasn't above her to have some hidden healing trick.

* * *

The next morning, they led the crowd of captured ninja outside. Many were glad simply to be able to move around after days of being told not to move a muscle in a cramped, dark place. They started the walk toward Konoha, but they made it as far as the edge of the ghost town they were leaving. Draya was waiting for them, weapon in hands. She got up from the rock she was posted on, obviously waiting for them.

"Look like the mission was successful, Leaf ninja. But they're still one…missing ninja. You need to capture me, right? You'll have to fight me. I won't run away. But I want to fight _him,_" finished Anhadraya, pointing Nobu with her weapon.

Sasuke, sighed and looked back at Naruto. Naruto looked straight at Draya. Nobu simply got a kunai out. Before he made a step forward, Naruto began to made his way toward the ex-Snow nin.

"I said HIM! Not you blondy! Stay out of this!" she yelled, taking a step back instinctively.

"You want to fight him? Fine. Have it your way. Know that I could beat you to the ground right now. You'll do this under our conditions. No weapons, no ninjutsu. You're going taijutsu."

Saying that, he deftly took Draya's kunai by the blade end. She looked at her empty hand, unbelieving he could disarm her without getting cut deeply. Looking at his hand, she saw that he, indeed, cut himself. Naruto tossed the boody kunai toward Sasuke who caught it on reflex. Naruto shook his injured hand a little and tied a tissue around it to stop the blood flow. What Draya didn't know was that he rather like to keep his healing abilities secret…from outside of Konoha.

Naruto made her lift her hands up and troughtfully searched her for any hidden weapons. He discarded the kunai, explosives notes, flash bombs, shurikens, senbons, vials of strange looking liquids and shiny small scales away, taking care not to dirty them. A ninja's weapon was his pride after all. Despite this, Draya couldn't help but feel her cheek burning and her pride taking a blow under Naruto's shameless body search. Once done, Naruto walked back to Nobu.

"The rule apply to you too. No weapon, no technique. Disregard the rule and I kill you personally."

The Leaf nin found his breath caught in his throat. How could he make such a statement? How could he side with a Snow country ninja? He realized it wasn't a country business anymore. Naruto didn't have his forehead protector. Sasuke was taking his own off, showing support. From his fight with Naruto and Sasuke individually, he knew they would defeat him easily if they teamed up. He dropped the kunai he had in hand in the ground. He undid his utility belt holding his shuriken and bomb pouch. He knelt and took a thin knife from under each of his sandals. The kind you could throw with a special kick. Naruto found that particularly devious. He would have to think of something similar.

Nobu, unarmed, looked at his adversary. His past caught him. It was time to face it. He suddenly felt so old…

Naruto walked back toward Sasuke and crossed his arm. It was the signal Draya waited for since the start. He wouldn't interfere anymore. She simply pounded on Nobu, jumping like a panther, her teeth bared. The attack was more precise than it looked. Sasuke saw his error when comparing her to a panther. It was more like a tiger and so was her taijutsu fighting style. Her fingers looked like claws and Nobu was avoiding them with great care. They looked strong and fast enough to gouge an eye out!

Anhadraya threw caution to the four winds, not caring about getting hurt. She wanted to hurt him, to kill him so bad! To rip him apart! To make him fell physically how she felt inside for all these years without a mother. A mother who died trying to protect her. Her fingers caught the vest of the Leaf nin and shred it effortlessly. Her chakra was keeping her hands in a rigid claw-like form. It wasn't ninjutsu, only a chakra control technique. Her legs were wide apart, giving her a stable ground for the fierce, wide attack.

All the while, Nobu concentrated on his defence. He wasn't even trying for an attack. That way, he didn't have to bother switching from defence to offence. His pattern was solid, presenting the young woman a slick wall of taijutsu. But even in this critical situation, he felt his motivation drying up. How could he gather the will to fight her seriously? He felt as if…he deserved this. As if he had gone long enough on that path and that she was the one to stop him. Unwillingly, he let an opening. Draya burrowed her hand in it and drove her claw across him, slashing all she could reach.

Her hand came back red, leaving four gashes on his shirtless chest. Nobu jumped back, hissing loudly in pain. Draya pressed her advantage, following him as fast as she could. She let down the tiger form, designed to pressure the enemy and make incapacitation wounds. Now that he was weakened, she would wear him down.

Sasuke, seeing Draya's attack land, made to stop her from pursuing. Naruto put a hand on his chest.

"What do you want to get from letting this fight go on , Naruto?" Sasuke hissed.

"How would you have liked the old man to stop us from decimating that clan? Or if he ordered us to give up our plans for Itachi?"

"It's not quite the same…" said Sasuke, calming down instantly, turning his head sideway. His eyes were drawn back toward the fight, and Nobu running backward to avoid the pressing Draya.

"Of course not. She's not us. It can't be exactly the same. Still, Nobu caused her pain in a way we can relate. Nobu could have very well started a war back then. He have to be…well…not really punished but…"

"It's just the reaction of his past actions," stated Sakura.

"Don't you think he didn't already payed for that kill to the Snow clan's Head himself? Her mother was a member of his village, wife of a ninja," tried Sasuke, on another angle.

"He probably paid the loss of a village member to the Kage, I do not doubt. But he haven't paid the loss of a mother to her daughter. Look at her. I bet that was the face we made, a little while ago, when we stumbled on Itachi," Naruto said.

Sasuke saw the rage etched on the girl's face, a mask of anger. A red face, tears stricken, stressed by the physical effort and the intense negative emotions emanating from her.

"Were we…that much out of control?" asked Sasuke, scared of himself for once.

"Do you remember clearly those moments?" answered back Naruto, yet again with another question.

"…"

"We complicated things here for nothing. We'll just let this play out. We'll take things from there."

Sasuke looked sadly at the scene. It was quite clear that in a full blown fight, each of them with their tools and able to use ninjutsu, Nobu would have won, if he was to fight seriously. But none of those conditions were present. Nobu was barely putting up a defence now. He did, though, have a better stamina. Nevertheless, he took his share of hits. Draya's face was contorted with rage. She was panting hard but refused to slow down the straining speed she had to take to hit him once every fifteen attack.

She managed to land one heavy hook, her fist having all her weight behind it. The weight of a young girl directed at full speed in one's jaw is more than enough to sent anyone to the ground, unconscious. But this was a ninja, used to take hits. He was still conscious. Draya straddled him as he felt on the ground, sending punches after punches in his stomach. Then she targeted his face. His stomach again. With both hands at the same time. Nobu couldn't make a move to stop her anymore. His face was a swelling and bleeding mess. He seemed to accept whatever fate had in store for him. Not that he had any strength left to try to change the course of events. Draya finally stopped her asseault, crying freely, head thrown back toward the sky. It lasted a few minutes, until a kunai was presented to her. She looked up to see…Sasuke. She wouldn't have been that surprise coming from the perceptive blond, but from him…

"Why are you helping me kill one of your own?" she asked, curious.

"I'm just letting your revenge play out as you want it to be," he answered shrugging.

He dropped the weapon in the dirt, at her side, and went back at the side of his teammates. She took the ninja tool, shaking. She held it over the prone form of her fallen enemy, the point directed on his neck. Something was amiss. Why couldn't she do it? After all those years? Despite all her anger and pain?

"Hey, Blondy," she called without raising her head, "How do you feel about the clan that killed your father? Do you think you could kill them, if they were defenceless right in front of you? How do you think you'd feel afterward?"

"Pretty good, in fact," Naruto said casually. "I feel pretty good now that we killed…no, that we wiped out the entire clan. Each blow, each death made me feel like a part of my father's memory was honored."

He eyes widen at that. He killed a whole clan of ninja? What kind of monster…Sasuke's word came back to her. They had to become strong enough to kill the one that wiped out _their_ own clan.

"What about you, Anhadraya?" asked Naruto in turn. "How did you feel after each blow you landed on your mother's murderer? Good? Let it show already! You can't stop crying!" Naruto mocked her.

"I KNOW! Why do I feel this way? What would my mother think of me!"

"I guess she'd be proud," whispered the black haired teen at the side of Naruto. Draya didn't miss a word.

"What?"

It didn't mean she understood them.

"You did something great. Something difficult. Something only you could do," said Sasuke, loudly.

"Oh yeah? What?" she asked in a broken and sarcastic voice.

"You forgave him. You won't forget, but deep down, you know it won't make things better to keep on this hatred and this endless chase."

"How do you know? How can you even tell? You don't know me!"

"Sorry, my mistake," he shrugged. "Kill him then. You have a kunai in your hands. Target the throat, head or heart. He's defenceless."

Draya looked at the man she was pinning down on the hard ground. She twisted herself and threw the kunai at the blond's head. He caught it effortlessly and tossed it back at Sasuke. Anhadraya got back up and looked at the sky, lost.

Naruto went to Nobu, unbothered by the missing Snow kunoichi, and began treating his wound. He would be sore everywhere for quite a few days but he had to make him travel-ready. Hum. One of his ribs was loose. He could bandage his chest it but it would have to mostly heal by itself. Draya was hitting him to hurt all along, not to kill.

'To hurt him as much as she hurt inside,' though Naruto.

* * *

Team Seven gathered the herd of missing ninjas, hoping to finally be able to leave the place. So much for a fun mission without Kakashi around. Still, they didn't regret it. What would have happened to Draya if the mission was handled by someone else? What about Nobu?

The prisoners had a nice distraction when two captives tried to flee. The fleeing nin received a kunai in their back. Naruto and Sasuke went to the unmoving bodies, cut their heads off and stuffed them in a large bag, filled with a squeashy content by the sound of it. They were the last to try. Draya, who was hanging around, helping them to push the herd forward, just scoffed once while Nobu chuckled quietly. They both saw through Sasuke's genjutsu. The prisoners were too shaken to realise that their number didn't diminish.

Nobu was using crutches to relieve some weight from his legs. Still, despite his beaten state, he was smiling. That was one hell of a good reason to ask for some time off!

They travelled as fast as they could with a reluctant crowd of ninja that knew of their final destination. When in sight of Fire Country's borders, they took a break. They let the captive reste under a patch of tree, letting them get one last view of the outside world before they would be sent to an underground ninja prisons, or worse, their original Hidden village. Draya was looking left and right, shuffling her feet. She got close to Sasuke in the last couple of days. They often talked late beside the camp fire, telling of each other's childhood, of their first mission, of their first kill. Draya laughed loudly at the demise of the Demon Brothers. "More like Imps Brothers," she said.

"Well, this is it then," she told Sasuke. "I guess…you'll have to tie my hands or it'll look…awkward."

'No more awkward than this situation,' though Naruto, leaving the matter to Sasuke.

This later was looking at the ground, scratching behind his head. Naruto sighed loudly.

"Arrgh! Why didn't you take a vacation for your freaking quest for revenge instead of going missing!" he asked the sky and the girl at the same time.

"Vacation?" asked the dumbfounded kunoichi. "Why not a dental plan while we're at it?"

Naruto turned away, not answering anything. They _had_ a dental plan after all…He clapped Sasuke on the shoulder hard and simply said: "You do it."

Sasuke barely threw him a look as the blond went to rise the prisoners to their feet. What did he mean exactly? To tie her up or to free her? He guessed that he meant to take that decision. He slowly closed himself to Draya. Strangely, she didn't wanted to be tied up by him. The black haired teen stopped in front of her, sighing.

"Look…I don't know if they'll take you back at your village. You can always try. If not, we might talk to the Hokage and see about a further insersion in our village or something. We have a knack for doing that."

Draya was looking at him, not beleiving her ears. She knew he had a thing for her and she liked him too, even if he was a bit young. But the Brothers always seemed to keep professional when it came to shinobi matters.

"Are you really letting me go?" she asked, making sure she heard well.

Sasuke was getting red, which was funny to see under the shadows of the trees.

"Yeah, I guess we are."

Draya was still unsure of what to do now that the matter of hr revenge was over. How was she to react to this act of mercy, knowing full well it's going to cost them a lot of money, and even some reputation? She had no way to pay them back in any way either. She choose to tease her way out of her embarassement.

"You're really interesting, y'know? If only you were two or three years older…" she said, eyes half-closed. Sasuke's reaction was not one she expected.

"Two or three years? _That's _what's stopping you?"

Sasuke grabbed her by the hem of her shirt and pulled on it. She was way to surprised to react when he kissed her. Otherwise, when she realised what was happenning, she found the kiss quite sweet and agreable, even if a little bit clumsy. She had to admit to herself she didn't have any more experience then him in that domain.

Sasuke finally pulled back and turned his back to her, walking away and mumbling loudly enough for everyone to hear.

"Damn girl thinking herself out of reach because of her age…"

Naruto started walking at his side, assuming the rear of their procession of prisonners.

"That's what I keep telling to my Onee-sans!" he said, nodding in approbation to Sasuke's words.

"It's not the same, idiot. Most of them are twenty years old. Shut up."

"I'm so proud of you, Aniki! I never would have thought you had it in you! My lil' brother is growing up…" Naruto kept on, wiping an imaginary tear and ignoring Sasuke's embarrassed frown.

"What part of 'Shut up' don't you understand?" grumbled Sasuke.

"The 'up'."

"That's for 'Up yours'."

"So that's what it's all about! Thank you Sasuke! I finally got it!"

Draya watched the brothers walk away, playfully trading comments and come backs. She couldn't understand how they could be so close without being real sibbling. That's something she missed in life. Those two were different and interresting. She hoped to met them again, someday, to see what kind of people they became. She hoped they would remember her. Especially Sasuke.

* * *

**Wow...I wrote that so long ago...  
**


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: When I'll have enough money to be sued for many million bucks worth by a manga corp., I guess I'll just take the money and go live on some heavenly island in South Pacific. Naruto would still not be mine, but I wouldn't care either.**

* * *

An old, energetic man with a thick, gnarled staff walked down the road toward the village Hidden in the Leaf. Two big dogs sporting long, wool-like fur were running around, herding a panting and groaning heard. Most members of that heard sported a scratched forehead protector of a village or an other. Once in sight of the village guards, a pink-haired girl at the rear of the group spoke up.

"Don't you think you're over-doing it, Naruto?" Sakura asked, unable to hide a small smile at the blond's act.

The old shepperd simply laughed merrilly. A raven-haired teen rolled his eyes. He was in a good mood too but felt obliged to to so. He had reasons to feel upbeat too. I still felt the lips of Anhadraya on his lips...

The captured ninjas were quite obedient and didn't complained loudly, if at all. The demonstration they had a few days prior was still fresh in their minds. Team Seven led the way to Konoha's holding cells for ninja. The Hokage would decide of their fate, might it be death, prison, forced labor or to be sent back to their own hidden village, the cruelest solution by far. Some might be integrated to Konoha's force, but it happen seldomly. Haku was the first successful insertion they had in a while.

The mission was a frank success despite the one missing target. Once in front of the Hokage, Sasuke was brief in his mission report, having unofficially taken upon himself to do so in their team's name. Naruto usually added his two cents when he saw it fit, which happen very rarely. Sasuke told the whole truth about what happenned, going so far as to admit he was the one letting Anhadraya go on purpose.

"I see you learned a few valuable lessons," Sarutobi said, grinning. "But would you have done it if she had been guilty of some serious crime that befitted her missing status?" he asked, hand crossed.

Naruto was smilling. One of those knowing smiles when he saw something coming.

"As if Aniki could fall for someone with doubtful morales. We judge people from our own morals, not from any labels put on someone's head."

"Matter of the heart, Naruto, aren't always so..."

"Don't put your mistake upon us, Hokage-sama," interrupted Naruto coldly, not smiling much anymore. "She wasn't a psychotic, human experimenting murderer. That's why we let her go. The situation's not the same and you know it."

Ouch. Sakura had a hand over her mouth while Sasuke looked at his brother with wide eyes. The blond Chuunin didn't even felt their gaze, his eyes being locked with those of the Third Hokage. Sasuke feared he would see chakra travel along their gaze if he activated his sharingan. This time, the old man was the first to give up the starring contest.

"I see. I guess I don't have anything else to teach you in this regard, Naruto," he sadly said.

Taking the mission scroll, he stamped it swiftly, jotted a few notes on it and rolled it back, putting it in the 'completed' stack.

"The first payment for this mission will be available tomorrow. You can take the rest of the day off," he said dismissingly, never looking up once.

Team Seven took their cue and leaft the office, then the building. Once out of the tower, Sakura couldn't held her question anymore.

"What was that for, Naruto? Why did you have to say that? Hokage-sama only wanted to partake some important shinobi ethic lesson! Why did you brush him up... no... squarely told him to shove it like that?"

Naruto was looking at the sky unblinkingly.

"The old man is jealous of me. Don't look at me like I'm some kind of self-gloating moron and listen to me. He knows that had I been in his shoes, I would have stopped Orochimaru back then. Stopped him, trialed him and executed him by my own hand if necessary. I'm stronger in my heart, without losing any passion or compassion. He's the Hokage and that's his biggest weakness. He feel any ninja in his situation would have done the same. We proved him wrong. To care can be a weakness but only to those who let themselves drown in despair once they realize they have been duped."

"You seem to have it all figured out," frowned Sakura, not liking him to have planned such a stunt without even telling them.

"Naruto doesn't plan," stated Sasuke, guessing the true meaning behind her words. "He react with his guts. He've got an incredible moral compass. Follow the direction he'll point out to you instinctivelly and you'll never lose your integrity."

Naruto smilled at the praise but didn't add anything to it. Sakura, on her side, had a lot to think about. She would have to postpone her musing for later though, as a cold voice drawled five simple words in their backs.

"So...You're finally back."

They turned to see their sensei who had his only visible eye ticking.

"An easy 'C-rank' mission, was it? For me to take one day off, was it?"

Sakura felt like burrowing herself deep underground. Sasuke just scratched the back of his head, looking away but smirking faintly at the situation.

"Yo! Kakashi-sensei! How's it going? Where's Rin?" asked Naruto loudly.

"She's getting back to her house in the Interior Sea right now but she might... HEY! Don't try changing suject, Naruto!" finished the Jonin, embarrassed to have been distracted so easily.

"You look so relaxed, Kakashi-sensei! I can't wait to become a Jonin and to afford taking vacations like you..." Naruto said, his voice falsely wistful.

"Va...cation? Why you little...You think you're getting off the hook so easily, do you? I think it's time to get back to some serious training. I hope you're not tired from your trip," finished Kakashi, towering over a slightly unconfortable Naruto.

"Training? Isn't it nice, team?" the blond asked, turning toward Sasuke and Sakura, who could barely held in their laughters now. "Well then! We'll just have to meet at the bridge tomorrow as usual then!"

He turned his back to Kakashi, beginning to walk away and waving toward his sensei. Sakura shook her head in amazement, not believing this.

"No so fast! You all seem to be in perfect shape! Why don't we start right now? I had over a whole _week_ to plan one very nice..."

"Sorry sensei," Naruto cut him, turning back toward Kakashi and not sounding sorry in the slightest. "We got the day off from the old man Kage himself!"

"Alright! Tomorrow morning, five AM," countered their instructor strictly, which was a rare sight from the normally laid-back Jonin.

"Perfect! I'll bring a pillow, breakfast and lunch while we're waiting for you. Can you bring a deck of card, Sakura-chan? Mine is all worned out..." Naruto said without missing a beat.

"FIVE AM SHARP! Be there!" finished Kakashi, his fists balling. He turned around and stomped away, mumbling an omnious fate for his team.

Sakura and Sasuke walked over to Naruto who was still smilling, starring at the back of their instructor's head in the distance.

"Finally," sighed Naruto. "...real traning."

Sakura palmed her head while Sasuke nodded appreciatively. They parted to get the day over early in order to be in shape for the next day. Once reaching their home, the Uchiha Brothers found a message saying that Haku would be ready to leave the hospital the very next day, fully healed. They both were sorry not to be there to welcome him back, but they could not pass this opportunity. Their sensei finally got serious.

* * *

It was still dark outside, the first signs of dawn reaching the border of the horizon. It was still fifteen minutes before the meeting time. Kakashi was wide awake, running from trees to rooftops on a road he used for the second time only: the road leading directly from his house to the meeting bridge. He would train his team to the ground. He knew it was childish, but he felt stung in his jonin pride. He was the teacher but Naruto decided on his own to make the team go on a mission, leaving him behind. He would have to remind him of his place.

In the shadows of a new day, he got in view of the bridge and made a last leap, landing on the wooden structure. Right in front of him stood his waiting team. None uttered a word. Kakashi straighten up his tall frame from his jump, looking every inches of the powerfull Jonin he was. Naruto stood in the middle of the three, unofficial leader. He was grinning like the Cheshire cat and his eyes almost glowed in the dark. Sakura was at his left, looking serious and resolute, her eyebrow in a light frown but her head held high. Sasuke was at the right of the blond and looked anything but bored. His eyes were wide open, his arms twitching at his sides, his eagerness to start barely held in check. If Kakashi didn't know better, he would have guessed a sugar high.

All thoughts of punishment fled from his mind. He remembered he liked and respected his team. Dammit. Time for plan B.

"Let's go," he stated simply, taking the natural path of the trees once again.

* * *

They stopped in the clearing of one of the numerous training grounds in the forests of Konoha. Kakashi turned toward his students and put himself in teaching mode, getting ready for some theory.

"To pass the Chuunin exam, you have to be as strong as a Chuunin already. The same goes for the Jonin exam. None of you are ready for that last one though, even if two of you already are Chuunin. You have to start this training with that goal in mind: to get in the Jonins' ranks. If you can't goe toe to toe with me, one on one, forget about the exam. I don't want you to get back from it with a promotion and a missing limb."

Sakura cringed hearing that. She got better than before but to stand up to her teacher... that was but a distant dream.

"Don't sell yourself short, Sakura-chan," Kakashi reassured her. "I'm not expecting you to beat me today or tomorrow. Or even this year to be honnest. With the control you have, whatever specialization you choose, you'll be very strong. We're setting the fondation for that today."

Sakura smiled nervously, recognizing the praise for what it was.

"To be allowed to take the Jonin's exam, you have to control your main elemental chakra type. I take it you all know what elemental chakra is?"

The Jonin got three heads bobbing up and down.

"Then you all know the strengths and weaknesses of one chakra type toward another?" Kakashi asked, lifting one eyebrow.

Again, he received three nods.

"Good! We're not going to waste any time going over it again. We'll experiment on it when you'll have a firm grasp of the basic elemental control. Now, to discover your affinity, take this piece of paper and..."

"I'm fire type," stated Sasuke.

"Wind," added Naruto.

"?" told the unbeleiving face of Sakura.

"How do you know?" asked Kakashi, wondering, once again, just how much those two hid from him in the past.

"The Uchiha clan have it's own stack of chakra paper," told Sasuke, shrugging. "It's a rite of passage for young kids who wants to become ninjas to burn one of those. The result is rarely something else than fire."

"How far is your training in elemental chakra?" asked a dishearted Sakura, feeling left behind once again.

"Still figuring it out," said a frustrated Naruto. "I have to get an elemental reaction to my chakra yet. It's hard to figure by ourself."

"I feel there is a gap to fill between fire elemental chakra and simple fire jutsu," agreed Sasuke. "I'm using meditation technique to center myself and find it but...I resigned myself to ask your help on this," he finally admitted to his teacher.

"We would have before but we were all kinda busy," grinned Naruto shamelessly. As if there was one dull day with this team.

"Maaah...This only leave you, Sakura-chan!" Kakashi told her, handing a piece of paper. "Just put it in your hands and channel some chakra," he dully explained.

Sakura did so and they all heard a crunching noise as soon as she began channeling her energy. Sakura opened her hand to find the paper crumbled up.

"We have a winner!" Kakashi said, delighted. "Another of my student that will have the chance to learn the Raikiri! Congratulation!"

Kakashi stroke his chin with one hand an tough of the best way to go from there on.

"The best... would be to split up. Sakura would stay with me to learn about her lightning chakra. Naruto, as a wind element, would follow his basic training with Asuma-san and his team, probably as a second in command. I don't think he'll mind much," waved Kakashi.

His team rolled their eyes at the tendency of their sensei to delegate work so easily.

"For you, Sasuke, it's going to be even easier. There is a lot of fire elementalists in Konoha. I'll get the one that fit you the most, Sasuke, and assign you to his team for tomorrow. Today, we'll have a review of all of your know jutsus until you're an inch from chakra exaustion!"

"Hai, sensei!" answered a chorus of voices.

* * *

Sasuke groaned as he pushed open the door to his house. He didn't have the heart to ask Naruto to do it. He waited for him to enter and closed behind him. Kakashi was right. He pushed them to the limit of their possibility to produce chakra in one day. Not only did he made them practice every single jutsu they knew, but he made them chain the techniques one after the other to find the best combinaisons to use in individual fights.

Naruto, on his side, has to test the resilience of his chakra punch on trees, rocks or on the ground. On grassy gound and on sandy one. On water. On a rock covered with water. Or covered by sand. Or grass. Or sandy grass. Or mud.

His arms were hanging, scorched, scratched and blistered at his sides. The end of his sleeves were thorned. His hair, usually standing straight up on his head, seemed to lack the will to do so.

"Welcome back! Supper... is... ready," finished Haku slowly, taking in their respective exausted looks. They both smiled tiredly at the lively Haku, truely glad to see him as he was before.

"Naruto-sa...-san! Sasuke-san! You're in a state! Get out of those rags, I'll get the baths ready."

On that, Haku hurried away. The two brothers didn't even think to argue. They did so, and now stood quite surprised in the bathroom's entrance. It was renovated from floor to ceiling. A wall was simply removed to enlarge the room and the biggest bathtub they ever saw inside a house replaced the simple one place tub that was there before. New tiles, bonzais and broad windows were everywhere since the missing wall led to a room giving to the outside. Haku was putting the last touch to fill the small pool at floor level with hot, lightly bubbling water and turned to see their dumbstruck faces.

"What? It can't be the first time you use this, can it? Why the surprised face?" he asked, puzzled.

Naruto was already drained from energy so he simply went to one of the two small stool where a wooden bucket of water, a soap, a washcloth and a light brush waited for him. Sasuke, comming back to his usual expressionless stare, did the same. He was the one to answer.

"After your fight, we had to chase after the ones responsible for this. You probably heard of it. We did so and faked to join Orochimaru's rank."

Haku gasped.

"You didn't!"

"Yep. They were after Sasuke specifically," groaned Naruto, painfully scrubbing the grime of the day away. "The Snake wanted, and probably still want him, for something very specific...that I rather not think about."

"A host," stated Sasuke, showing he didn't mind the subject. "A willing host for a technique of soul transfer, to achieve immortality. Jiraya was sure of it after seeing the carnage in the arena room. It was a bit too late for that when we arrived, fortunatly. We made as if we were to decide whatever to stay or not by fighting his goons. Spare no more worry about those who attacked you."

Haku looked away, embarrassed. He did have a few unpleasant dreams about what happenned. Naruto took his turn to speak.

"So, it was a trip back to the hospital for all of us, including for a deadly wounded Jiraiya who fought me once I was possessed by my tenant."

Haku just stared at him unbeleivingly.

"Then we all got out of the hospital after finding out that old Sarutobei was going to get better...only to stumble on our brother," Sasuke kept on. "Itachi was stolling around Konoha, searching for Naruto. He found us. A guy, with a shark-face and a huge sword, stepped between Kakashi, Sakura and I, splitting us from Naruto who was given a free path toward Itachi."

"Idiot I was," pursued Naruto, trying to reach the small of his back with the brush. "I fell right in his genjutsu and was tortured a few hours. The last thing I clearly remember is to snap in partial madness and the Kyubi decided to put his paw down, once again. He appeared in the torture session, changed the place we were in my mind and blasted Itachi out of it. Shark-face took the inert Itachi and swam away I heard. I was out cold. Back to the hospital."

"After getting out, Naruto pulled a trick on the Hokage and went away for a few days in search for the old teammate of Kakashi-sensei so that he could get over his post-mission traumatism about his other dead teammate. At that time, I was using the washroom at the hospital a lot since I... spent a lot of my free time there," admitted Sasuke.

Now Haku was blushing and looking down. No need to ask who he was visiting all this time. Naruto lifted the bucket over his head and dropped its content to rince himself. He already felt a lot better. He continued the story where Sasuke left it while this later scrubbed his face.

"We took the chance that Kakashi was busy to go in a week long mission to capture a bunch of low level missing ninjas from every villages, all in one go. There was a substancial bonus attached but we missed it. No regret there. We'll tell you the details about that later."

"Yeah, it's a long story..." deadpanned Sasuke, getting in a corner of the hot bath while Naruto was settling down in the other, twelve foot away. There was enough space for the whole team Seven with place to spare! They should plan something like this at some point.

Meanwhile, it was Haku's turn to be struck speachless, standing in the entrance of the bathroom. That much happenned while he was bed-ridden?

"I'll...get the supper on floating trays. I'll be right back," he said, turning around and almost crashing against the closed door. He managed to open it shakily before getting out. The only sound left, for a moment, was an ornemental fountain whose sound was the embodyment of serinity.

"Ya think it was too much for his first day back?" asked Naruto slyly.

"Nah. He'll be fine," answered Sasuke, grinning while closing his eyes.

* * *

**As short as it is, it is the best place to end this chapter. I have training and missions planned ahead and making too long chapter serves no purpose, if only for slower updates. **


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: I claim I own no Beta right now. There is so much errors it should make this work far from being related to any existing copyright ****_**

* * *

Team Seven met their sensei early the next morning at the usual place. It was a nice surprise to see Kakashi taking the habit of showing up early. He informed Naruto that Asuma and his team would be waiting for him along the river usually used for water walking training. Naruto waved goodbye to his team and Sasuke turned toward his sensei expectantly.

"You're going to be thrilled, Sasuke-kun!" said the Jonin, a little bit too enthusiast. "I found the perfect trainer for you! His team and he should be waiting for you already in the training area number five!"

Sasuke frowned suspiciously but having said that, Kakashi already put his arm on Sakura's shoulders and was dragging her away. Sasuke, still frowning, took the path to the training ground number five. His feet were on autopilot, as the road was familiar to him. Why was that again? Oh yeah, he was using it many times a week for his training in taijutsu with Naruto and...

"YOSH! One of my rival seek the secret of the burning Fire of Youth from of my sensei!"

Lee. No _way_. Gai-sensei was a fire element chakra user? How come they never saw him use...of course. Lee. Gai-sensei doesn't use his ninjutsu because Lee can't. It didn't mean that he wasn't able to. The Uchiha felt the sudden urge to go back to Kakashi with a huge club, a rope and to put a genjutsu on the Damyo's wife so that his sensei look like Tora to her eyes.

"Ha! My young friend! My rival finally admitted the superiority of my inner fire and sent you to me in recognition of my burning passion?" asked Maito Gai, flames in his eyes.

"Something like that," deadpanned Sasuke.

"Ooooh! You're so _hip_! I see your sensei taught you that! I'll make you discover your will of fire and show Kakashi-kun I will not be beaten!"

"Great. Let's get this happening. I can't wait to go back to thank my sensei..." growled Sasuke.

* * *

Naruto felt at ease with his new assignment. It wouldn't be so bad. The mood in the team was good and what Asuma-sensei taught him felt right. He had a block at first, while trying to cut a leaf in two, but that was the whole point of this training: to make a breakthrough. He could take the time to look at Team Ten's training at the same time.

Shikamaru was getting impressive. Naruto always saw him as a brain, who dealt with the situation with what he had. He never really worked at being able to do more. But here he was, training with Choji to push his physical limits, which he had a hard time moving forward as he wasn't used to get the best out of his muscles and chakra production yet. Still, he seemed so focussed it impressed Naruto. It was a rare sight to see a Nara so determined.

Choji was attacking him, rolling away and changing constantly the size of his body. He seemed to be giving his all too, in his own way. Ino was meditating and the blond Chuunin never saw her that quiet around. It was all very interesting but he had his own training to focus on too. He had his hand lightly pressed against each other and was trying to grasp a feeling...A small ripping noise was heard. He lifted one hand to see his leaf with multiples small cuts all around the edge. Naruto smiled knowingly. He just had to isolate that feeling he had just now, and to do it again a thousand time to get it right.

* * *

Sakura was panting and sweating. She seemed to do that a lot since she got in Team Seven. Her girlish side noticed that her skin got a nice shine from this entire workout in the sun...But it was at the price of some major pain. Kakashi stood in front of her expectantly. She just knew he was there, despite her closed eyes. She had both her forefingers and thumbs extended in front of her, one almost touching the other to form a perfect rectangle.

"You _have_ to find the spark, Sakura. It's the first step to reach and we won't be going anywhere before you find it. Sasuke had to go there too to specifically learn the Chidori. I suspect that lightning would be his second chakra affinity. You have to master this at a point to shame Sasuke. Do you...need another hint?"

Sakura hesitated, but nodded nonetheless. Kakashi lightly put a hand on her shoulder and her whole body tensed as the current went through her. She clenched her teeth, trying to keep her focus enough to grasp the sensation. She couldn't see the smile of her sensei, under his mask, as he watched the sparks travelling freely between her thumbs and forefingers. Her body was very receptive. He just needed to wire it right.

Kakashi lifted his hand from Sakura's shoulder and saw, to his surprise, the sparks keeping their course along Sakura's fingers. The strawberry blond genin had a strained look on her face, but started to look annoyed very soon.

"I'm not a Chinese cup, Kakashi-sensei. No need to go easy on me. I can handle it."

Kakashi's lips formed a crooked smile.

"Hai-hai, Sakura-chan."

He put his hand back on her shoulder.

* * *

Training a jonin-class chakra control techniques is weird while doing D-classes missions, with some C-classes along the way. Sasuke thought it was a waste of resources to use such abilities to do chores that academy students should be burdened with. He told the Hokage so. They had a provisory team of three Genins, a chuunin and one Jonin on their hand. They should use it in ways more constructive. Sarutobi thought about it a few seconds and searched for a specific mission scroll.

"Here," he said, handing the thick scroll to Maito Gai. "This should keep you busy for a few days. Make sure it doesn't hinder your elemental chakra training, Sasuke-kun. It's the reason you've been put on this team in the first place! You should view it as more important than the ranking of your current mission."

Sasuke nodded. Deep inside, he was as bothered by this than the old man. More, even. His progresses were naught. He listened to Gai's rambling for hours with a tear stricken Lee at his side. There was too much shouting, youth power, and sunsets with blinding, flashing white teeth for his taste. Rock, on the other side, had the time of his life. Sasuke found the company of Ten-Ten to be crucial for his moral. Lee was milling the powder left of his patience after his personal sensei's 'teaching'. Neji sparred mostly alone or occasionally with Lee. Ten-Ten, on the other hand, was calmer and stoic. Her discipline in weapon training got him to nod appreciably more than once. Sasuke, being skilled in the kunai department, agreed for a few sparring session with her along the way. It took everything not to get sewed on the trees! He was wearing weights, but still! Her technique was awesome!

Right after leaving the Hokage tower for the mission, Sasuke manage to get the scroll from their sensei who was off toward yet another setting sun. He seemed to carry them around, or was it some kind of genjutsu? That would explain things. The mission objectives being summed by "On to the rescue!" from their sensei, Sasuke took upon himself to gather a few details, like the location, the party involved and who they had to 'rescue' exactly.

"Looks like a patrol found three guys floating down the river right before the waterfall. They were lucky. They said they fell from a cliff while escaping Katabame kinzan, a rich village only a few days from here."

"OOOh! I know this place! Just outside the limits of the village is an Inn with an amazing curry!"

"Thanks you, Lee, for this pertinent input. We can make it out base of operation. Tone it down just a bit now, I'm not finished yet," Sasuke said, his eyes never leaving the scroll.

Lee was about to manifest his agreement in a rather loud way when Ten-Ten half-draw a scroll from a pocket. Lee's jaw closed with an audible 'click' and his steps got very military style. Sasuke raised an eyebrow. He just _had_ to know how she did it!

"Six month ago, members of the Kurosuki family settled in the village and the death began. They took control of the gold mine and began burrowing the one who dared to resist them...alive."

Neji frowned. Tent-Ten had a hand over her mouth. Even Lee seemed too shocked to say anything.

"The mission objective is to get there, free the villagers and...dispose...of the Kurosuki family. Especially of its leader, Raiga."

None of the ninja present seemed to object to the fate imposed on the man. Gai, having finally got off of his sunset-high, joined them.

"Raiga, from the Kurosuki family you said?" he asked.

"Yes," answered Sasuke, looking up at the tall man. "Did you hear about him before, sensei?"

"I might. In one of my recent mission, I heard of an ex-Akatsuki member named Raiga. I don't know much else about him, though."

Sasuke's attitude seemed to shift. He was a lot more...stiff.

"Akatsuki. They're all high-ranking individuals. This mission could get dangerous very quickly. It's supposed to be a simple support for my and your team's training. "

"No matter the opposition, we'll burn them up in the fire of youth!" Gai said, brushing the matter aside.

"Gai-sensei!" shouted Lee.

"You even had to refuse a high-ranking mission to get on this one, sensei..." objected Sasuke.

"...make them feel the youthful enthusiasm of our fists!" Gai continued, ignoring him.

"Gai-sensei!" shouted Lee again, his tears following the well-known path of his cheeks.

"What about the fists of Tsunade-sama when she hears that you took a decision over Sarutobi's head? Will they be fiery and enthusiast when she'll pound on you?" asked Sasuke in a deliberately sweet tone.

Gai froze mid-tirade. His neck seemed to creak as he turned toward his Chuunin charge.

"Of course, we might have learned of this only once we get there and have no more choices than to face the situation..." Sasuke kept on.

"Yes! We're not sure or anything like that! This is pure speculation!" Gai shouted, laughing nervously.

"Of course, the risk is still real. For me to forget such an important possibility, I would have to be very busy while elemental chakra training, serious training."

"Of course! It's what we're here for after all!" Gai claimed loudly, both arms high in the air.

"Hu-huh. You know, Kakashi-sensei is training Sakura as we speak. I bet she's way further in her training than I. Could it be the trainer?" mused Sasuke loudly.

Sasuke began to really grasp Naruto's way of manipulating people. Of course, Gai was so straightforward that is was no challenge at all. As he looked back at his target, he saw the taijutsu master with one fist raised and fire in his eyes. Sasuke wondered if that was elemental fire.

"YOSH! I won't be beaten! At the end of this mission, you'll know how to harness the fire burning inside of you!"

Then, he took off running, laughing all the way. Lee joined his sensei in this improvised training session shortly. Neji's head went down and Ten-Ten smacked a hand in her face.

"Good," Sasuke answered quietly to the quickly disappearing teacher. "And if you cannot, I'll choose the punishment I see fit."

The two Genins behind him couldn't help to shudder at his ominous tone.

* * *

The travel went fast with Gai-sensei running off at the oddest moment. Sasuke's haste to settle down to their 'base of operation' was the only thing stopping him from sighing in annoyance. He wasn't stupid. He would corner Maito Gai for serious training as soon as they would get there. He would send the three Genin to patrol the village and report back to decide of the course of action. He didn't really believe the Akatsuki would be interested in gold. Their objective was obviously power, not money. Why should you pay for anything when nobody could stop you from simply taking it?

Once his plan in motion, things got pretty much as he planned, except for the training itself. There he was, sitting on the roof of the curry shop to avoid the random burst of volume in Gai-sensei's monologue.

'_Man, How much longer will he keep this on? It would have been less of a waste of time to get pointers from the granny inside. From the taste of her curry, she mastered fire chakra a long time ago._'

"...to fuel the burn in your muscles, trained to perfection restlessly..." droned Gai.

_'Sounds more like cramps to me.'_

"...inflaming your heart and to release it in a burning passion..."

_'Gastric gaz.'_

"...to finally purify your adversary with it, be it a training dummy or..."

_'Why do I get the image of something Naruto would accuse Jiraiya-sama to do with a life-size doll for the sake of his research?'_

"...to ashes. Got it all?" asked Gai-sensei, panting slightly.

"It's a nice description, sensei, very poetical, for an outside observer. But how does it happen from the inside? In my coil? The reaction on the chakra pressure points? The gates? How do they react to the use of elemental chakra? How do I get it to manifest itself at first?" asked Sasuke, looking at his teacher for any kind of clue.

Gai-sensei stared at him, silent. He seemed to be more serious than ever before.

"I begin to doubt the judgment of my forever rival, Hatake. Are you sure you're a fire chakra type? You seem more like a lightning type."

"Yeah, that's probably my second affinity. I had some training with it, but only for one jutsu. I didn't perfect the chakra element in itself."

Gai seemed to ponder a while, a hand under his chin. Sasuke felt uneasy before his serious, silent stare.

"What?" he asked, unable to stand it anymore.

"Your reaction. Even when I said that fire might not be your type, your reaction was...unusual."

"I'm always like..." began Sasuke.

"For a fire type," interrupted Gai.

Sasuke shut up. Was it him? Was he missing the whole thing? He was about to ask when a limping Neji appeared down the path leading to the mines. Gai and Sasuke were at his side a moment later.

"Raiga..." Neji said in pain. "He's strong. Lightning style. Ten-Ten...lost to him. I don't know of her current status but I fear..." Neji's voice began to choke some before he resumed talking. "Lee distracted him while I fled. I don't know...how long he'll..."

Neji fainted on those last ominous words. Gai took him in his arms and carried him inside the curry restaurant. Moments later, he put Neji on a futon and Gai began to tend to his wound as much as his limited medical knowledge allowed him. The old lady was in shock, seeing Neji's state.

"Who could possibly do this to a child?" her words partially muted by the hand on her mouth.

"A professional, from the look of it. Someone who didn't held back. Someone who understood," answered Gai slowly.

"What reason could possibly be good enough to hurt such a sweet and polite child?" she asked, intrigued and a little shocked at the ninja stoical attitude.

"The fact that this child, if taken lightly, could beat him senseless, rends his member lifeless and, if the situation calls for it, take his life. He may be only thirteen, but he's already a ninja, able to take and deliver death as the situation call for it. Isn't it true, Uchiha-kun? Didn't you make your first kill the first time you had a mission outside of the village?"

Gai-sensei turned...to an empty spot.

"Sasuke-kun?" asked Gai, puzzled, looking around.

"Your black-haired student never came in with you," slowly said the granny.

Gai was almost to the door when he stopped. He closed his empty fist and shut his eyes hard. He turned toward Neji. He could still do something for him but...what about Ten-Ten and Lee? The Jonin's head dropped and he walked back at Neji's side, tending to him to the best of his medical abilities.

"Won't you go after him?" asked the old lady, puzzled once more.

Gai's jaw tensed but his moves kept gentle around his student.

"I have to believe in Sasuke-kun. He's my second in command and, seeing I was in emotional distress, he took the best course of action. He will get the rest of my team back safely."

He paused to lift an eyelid of Neji, looking at his pupil react to the light.

"Of course, if you could get me a doctor here very fast, I could run after him to help..."

* * *

Sasuke was angry after himself, for taking the mission too lightly. He treated a potentially dangerous situation carelessly, resulting in serious wounds, and maybe worse. He was angry at the enemy, for being there, for being too powerful. For ruining the little time he had of training. He was angry back at himself for thinking like this. Then back at the enemy, for making _him_ hate his selfish thoughts, and for making him angry.

Sasuke followed the path toward the mine but jumped down a lot of cliffs to get there faster. He pulled the link keeping his weights in place and got rid of them. His new speed made pebbles fly around and dust lift behind him. Sasuke had no need of maps or indications to get to the battlefield. A cloud was hovering low in the middle of nowhere, hiding everything in it from sight. Lightning periodically shot in it, creating veiled flash of light.

As soon as he got inside the clouds, Sasuke began looking around, feeling watched. He finally found Lee, sprawled on the ground, feet over head in a weird 'C' formation. He looked unconscious. Sasuke drew two kunai and made a full circle around him, making sure nobody was near before checking on him. By the look of Neji, the enemy was serious and wouldn't let Lee live for no reasons. Why didn't he finish him off? Was it a trap?

Sasuke went over Lee and was about to put his legs down. As he closed in, Lee's left leg shot toward him and the Uchiha had to block with both his arms. The green clad Genin flipped over Sasuke's crossed arms, using them as support to roundhouse kick with his right leg. Sasuke dodged the kick and Lee landed with a back flip on nimble legs.

"Well, this could explain why Raiga didn't finish him off. Damn taijutsu beast. LEE WAKE UP! CURRY'S READY!"

"Curry?" said a waking Lee, standing straight. But the initial burst of vitality went as fast as it came. Lee groaned, holding his head in his hands.

"Huuunnnnnh...hurt."

"Sorry to cut short on your nap time, Rock. Neji made it to the H.Q. What's Ten-Ten's status? Where is the enemy?" asked Sasuke, trying to see something in the thick fog.

"The young lady took my lightning straight on," said a sufficient voice from behind Sasuke. "She must be under a boulder or another. It could be her grave. Yes! A funeral! I didn't know her well, but I bet you did! We could find her and say a nice prayer in her memory before making arrangement for your own funerals!"

The voice was one of a disturbed man and Sasuke stopped Lee from saying anything with one hand. He already knew what to answer to the deranged man.

"Ten-Ten was a brave warrior. I would welcome the opportunity to honor her memory," he said darkly.

Lee was gobsmacked and looked at Sasuke in disbelief. Sasuke turned toward Lee and this later almost did a double-take. Sasuke's face looked...feral, strained. His mask was cracking from everywhere and Lee knew he was barely containing the anger swelling inside.

"Marvellous! More tears to shed in the joyful memory of our friends!"

The fog cleared slowly, finally showing the ninja. He was tall, had a strange package on his back and wore a long, black cloud with red clouds on it. Sasuke immediately thought of that ninja, a while back, with the same kind of stump on his back. Kankuro of the Sand had a puppet strapped there. Neji said he was a lightning user thought, and he admitted just a few moment ago of attacking Ten-Ten with lightning.

"The girl...is forty-three meter from here in the direction of the north cliff."

'Bingo,' Sasuke thought, hearing the small, juvenile voice coming from his enemy's back.

"Lee, here are your orders: find Ten-Ten in the direction he just indicated and take her to be treated at the H.Q. I don't believe there are techniques to target dead bodies. She must still be alive. I'll take care of this guy.

"But..."

"That's an order, Lee, from your second in command. Think twice before adding anything to this 'but'," snapped Sasuke, the mask failing some more.

Lee gulped hard and ran toward Ten-Ten's location.

"Be careful! I'll come back with reinforcement as soon as possible!" he yelled.

Sasuke turned toward his enemy who shook his head, looking disappointed.

"You tried to trick me? Is that the honor of Konoha's ninja?" asked the one Sasuke supposed to be Raiga.

"I simply said I would be honored to say a prayer in her memory. I believe she's still alive. I'm going to make sure she stays that way."

"Why bother? She's going to die anyway! She's a ninja! She's going to die even faster than a normal person! Why not bury her now so we can remember her only for her good deed? People, when alive, are always cheating, betraying and killing each other's! In a burial, all of this doesn't matter anymore and only the good memories remain. Don't you want to remember her that way?"

Sasuke was boiling inside. He felt the steam rise. What kind of twisted logic was that? You have to stay alive in order to make more happy memories and make more people grieve your departure!

"I can see you refuse my philosophy. I guess I'll have to kill you before performing your funeral. It has been a long time..."

The ex-Akatsuki raised both his sword in the air, making clouds over him growl.

"Ikazuchi no Kiba!"

Sasuke knew by experience that when dealing with a lightning user, you're better to keep moving. His foot left a dent in the ground as he jumped away. The ground he left was blown up by the aerial lightning strike. Raiga kept his arms raised and Sasuke had to periodically dodge as electric discharge from the newly formed cloud above tried to fry him like an eel. If the deranged man managed to pin-point his location to where he would be the next time he stopped, he would be done for.

Sasuke kept running, using many tactics to distract the lightning chakra user. He made five shadow clones, giving a different direction to run off to each of them.

"The real one is the second from the right, Raiga-san," said the voice coming from the enemy's backpack.

Sasuke cursed between his teeth. He could see through clones?

"He kawamiri'd himself with the first clone to the left, Raiga-san."

Dammit!

"Three clones that faked a dispel are coming from underground, Raiga-san."

'What the hell is that power?' thought Sasuke angrily. He was getting tired of this. He had to get near the enemy for close range combat. Down with the subtleties! It was time to go Naruto-style!

Raiga kept good track of the Uchiha thanks to Ranmaru. One of them ran to him, barely dodging the rocks from the lightning strikes hitting the ground.

'Must be another bushin trying to distract me from the real threat. The real one should be...

"Raiga-san! It's the real one!" yelled the package in his back.

"Nani?"

He barely blocked the two attacks from the kunai of the black-haired Leaf ninja, only to receive a foot to the jaw. Raiga promptly swept his adversary off his feet, but Sasuke wasn't one to be stopped by that. His fingers seemed to caress the ground from their tips, keeping a rotating motion to his legs. Raiga, falling too, managed to block the first passage of the rotating kicks but the strength of the move blew his guard open for the next kicks. His precious backpack got ripped from his shoulders after a precise hit, the straps unable to withstand the abuse.

"No! Ran-oofff!" he managed to say, before receiving the end of the move, Sasuke's armored sandal, in the stomach.

Raiga swept around with his sword, as if bating a fly away, only to find that Sasuke already used his momentum to jump after the lost package. He took it under an arm, ran a few strides away and turned around, pulling the blanket protecting the package with his kunai. A young boy with an impassive face was looking back at him, uncaring of the Kunai trained on his throat.

"Ranmaru!" yelled Raiga, furious. "Let Ranmaru go, or else!"

The threat might have been more effective if he had not been trying to stand up so painfully when he said it. He yelled loudly but his swords were down and the clouds were quiet. Sasuke had bought some time. Now, he wanted answers.

"So, you are Ranmaru?" he asked the young boy to make things clear.

"Yes. Are you going to give me back to Raiga?" he asked quietly, the only tone that seems to be able to pass his lips.

"Not a chance. That guy used you to murder people in a most horrible way and he hurt my teammate," answered Sasuke matter-of-factly.

"Then kill me."

Sasuke looked down at the boy in disbelief. He was serious.

"Why?" Sasuke asked, feeling he wouldn't like the answer.

"Raiga is the only one to ever have taken care of me, the only one who cared. As soon as the villagers learned of my power, they stopped feeding me. I'm too weak to leave a bed, let alone fetch my own water. He was ordered to kill me. Instead, he left his village and adopted me in everything but name. He showed me places I never could have seen on my own. If you're not going to give me back to him, you might just as well kill me now."

Sasuke felt something rise and fill him whole. He could barely hold his mask and what threatened to explode from his chest who felt like melting away.

"Ranmaru..." whispered Raiga from his spot, tears running freely from his eyes."Sweet, loyal Ranmaru...Your funerals are going to be the greatest we had yet!"

Silence, stillness. All was blank in Sasuke's mind. Or rather, white hot. His sight exploded red. To the outside observer, Sasuke began to fume. He dropped Ranmaru on the ground who let out a slight 'oof'. Sasuke was already moving. Raiga back-pedalled under the charge of the young ninja.

"WHY?" screamed Sasuke while sending his fist forward straight at his enemy, without any forms.

"Why is it that you have to be the only one to care about him? Why did those idiot villagers cast him off? Tell me why you have to be insane! Why does it always have to fall on a psychopath? Why can't you both just be bad to the bone?"

Sasuke was going all out during his frantic rambling and his speed was more than what Raiga was able to match. Even if wide and straightforward, more than one punches caught him, sending him further back each times.

"WHY can't I just LET IT GO!" finally yelled Sasuke, sending both fist forward, his fury reaching its peak. As he did, he sent his anger forward, channelling it in Raiga who flew a few meters back under the brute strength behind the strike. What's more interesting is that Raiga actually caught on fire on contact of Sasuke's fists. He landed on the ground, still burning but unconscious, at least.

Sasuke looked at his shaking hands, his closed fists, still wrapped in flames. He looked back at his burning enemy and then at the helpless Ranmaru who was shooting the deranged man's names at the top of his lungs. Sasuke cursed and moved toward the unmoving ninja. He was still very angry and barely in control. That simple fact made him even angrier and the flames on Raiga's prone form jumped up. Seeing this, Sasuke's blood turned cold. With renewed resolved, he hastily pushed his emotion back down as he was used to. The flames died instantly, revealing a blackened man. There was not an inch of unprotected skin that would get back the way it was, that's for sure. Sasuke couldn't decide what to do right now. He had the order to dispose of him. That was quite clear.

"Please! Don't kill him! If you have to kill someone, kill me instead!" said the kid wrapped in blanket behind Sasuke.

"You're the only reason he's still alive right now," Sasuke snapped at him. "Are you still that eager to play the sacrificial lamb?"

The young boy wisely shut his mouth. It was the first time that his words had such an importance. Wincing to himself, Sasuke realize what was Raiga's only chance at surviving this ordeal.

"Kid. If you want to live, and want this guy to live too, I strongly suggest that you avert your gaze, close your ears and shut up."

* * *

Maito Gai met his prized student who was now limping toward the base, helping Ten-Ten that looked to be in even worse state than him. Even from there, he could guess she took a bad hit to the head.

"I have learned to never use a magnetic weapon against a lighting user..." she drawled as Gai neared them, relieve to see both his student able to move by themselves.

Gai took Ten-Ten in his arms to relieve Lee of the effort. He helped them to get to the curry shop where Neji was being taken care of by the sister of the owner. The Jonin ran back toward the indicated location where the battle took place, but only silence greeted him on the broken rock field that became the battleground. Sasuke stood towering over a prone body. As Gai walked closer, he saw the man bones were broken in many, many places. His arms, legs and fingers were mangled beyond measure. He had burns all over his body. Gai shook his head sadly. He had hoped to be the one dealing the mortal blow and carry the burden of the death to deliver in this mission.

"Sasuke-kun...You did what had to be done. I realized you had to do this because I refused to hear your protest and I intend to take full responsibility..."

"The guy's not dead, Gai-sensei," deadpanned Sasuke.

Maito Gai stopped abruptly and looked more closely at the presumed body. He kneeled beside it and checked for a pulse. He found a weak, but steady heartbeat, proof that the man was in no danger of immediate death. The Jonin turned toward Sasuke who was now picking up a bundle that laid on the ground a few pace away.

"What is it?" he asked, curious.

"Ranmaru. The secret behind his powers," Sasuke answered, not really answering.

The Chuunin pulled back the hood covering the young boy's head, making him squirt his eyes under the bright sun.

"Let's bring those two with us, sensei, and I'll explain everything on the road. It's going to be easier to take a decision when we're sure everyone of the team is ok."

* * *

The green clad Jonin was in a sober mood when he got back to the curry shop, followed closely by Sasuke carrying the injured Raiga. Kakashi's forever rival looked glad to see his whole team conscious and out of trouble, but his thoughts were elsewhere. Sasuke looked brooding too, even more than usual in facts. They put Ranmaru in front of a bowl and fork and Granny Curry, as Sasuke dubbed her without a hint of mirth, fed him with a special batch made by her good for nothing nephew. At first, Ranmaru refused to take even one bite. Sasuke, seemingly talking to himself, muttered:

"Why bother feeding him? It's not as if anybody's life was depending on his own well-being..."

Ranmaru emptied his plate with vigor and asked for a second serving. His eyes opened wide at the first bite and were tearing at the end of that first plate.

"This is a small taste of life, Ranmaru. Eat while you can," stated Sasuke before leaving the room.

Sasuke joined Gai-sensei outside who seemed to be thinking intently. Gai refused the offer of the doctor to check on Raiga. He stated it as too dangerous. Sasuke guessed there was more to it and was afraid to ask.

"I'm going to suggest a solution to the old man about Raiga. If we bring him to Konoha, a specialist from the Hyuuga clan could shut down his access to his chakra and..."

"No," Gai cut him firmly.

"Why?" asked Sasuke, fearing the serious face of the usually jovial ninja.

"The mission objectives are very clear. This man is to die from our hand."

"Are you going to be the one to tell a young boy that the only one who ever cared about him was killed for the greater good?" hissed Sasuke.

"What about you? Are you going to act against a direct order from the Hokage and give a pardon to a mass murderer in Konoha's name? Is that the example you want to set to this young boy? Anything can be forgiven in the name of love?" stated Gai, looking very frustrated himself.

Sasuke closed his fists and bit his lips.

"Get back inside, now," ordered the senior ninja. "You go and tell your team members in shape to fight to get ready in five minutes. We have to take care of the rest of the Kurosuki clan who might have in minds to pursue their master's actions. Also, you'll have to announce to Ranmaru the death of Raiga. We can't bring him with us either. Those are your orders."

Sasuke was fighting to keep the control over his emotion. It was like on the battlefield again. He rose from his seat in the shadows and walked toward the Inn. Just before opening the door, his trained hearing detected the muffled sound of a kunai burying in flesh from the shack where Raiga rested. Sasuke paused a moment to find his balance. He was strong, he was a ninja. He'd get over this. He opened the door and strode inside as if nothing particular happened.

"Lee, Ten-Ten," he called, walking in the back room.

Both young teens snapped to attention but Ten-Ten seemed to have some trouble standing straight. They would have to have that wound checked by medic-nin.

"Ten-Ten, you stay here and guard H.Q. Lee, you're coming with sensei and I to dismantle what's left of the Kurosuki clan at the mine."

Ten-Ten relaxed, relieved to be off of that one. Lee was outside in a matter of moments, ready to go. The curry shop owner was helping Ranmaru to drink some water. They seemed to enjoy each other's company.

"Raiga's dead," stated Sasuke simply.

Three head snapped toward him, horror and incomprehension written all over their faces, particularly Ranmaru, who was slowly shaking his head in denial.

"No...NO! How is that possible?"

"He was executed by Konoha's ninja forces for his criminal acts against the village of Katabame Kinzan."

"You said you would keep him alive if I did what you said!" shouted Ranmaru desperately, as if it was a simple mistake that could be fixed.

Ten-Ten, who was looking intently at Sasuke, saw him...unstable, until the ninja mask was firmly back on, closed to the world more than he ever was before.

"I lied to you," stated Sasuke, his back to Ranmaru. "If you want to do something about it, get stronger and come back at me with all you've got."

After this last piece of advice, he left the shop. He never set foot in it ever again.

* * *

**You know where I'm going? Hehehe…To get donuts. With maple syrup. Huuuuum. Maple.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: I feel like _not_ putting up a disclaimer stating that I don't own Naruto. How's that for living dangerously?**

* * *

Sakura was on a light run, two steps behind Kakashi, on a dirt road. The jonin had to interrupt Sakura's training for an urgent escort mission. Since Asuma was training Naruto, Gai was tortur… errr… training Sasuke, and that everyone was already away on missions, he didn't have much of a choice.

Konoha wasn't short of shinobi. It was overloaded with missions. The last Chuunin exam impressed the officials from all around the elemental country. Not only did the Leaf genin dominate the play, but they pushed back an enemy attack with minimal loss on their side. They proved to be the strongest.

This led them on the road again. The caravan they had to escort was already on its way. They were fleeting from a civil war toward a new place to settle down. The possibility of enemy ninjas going after the caravan was very real.

They finished climbing the hill and the many wagons stood before them. They slowed down to a light jog until they were at the height of the first vehicle. People gathered together nervously, recognizing them as ninjas.

"Yo!" greeted Kakashi, smiling behind his mask and raising a hand. "We're the hired hands from Konoha."

The lost villagers look from one to another, unknowing of what to do, some of them seemingly searching for someone.

"At last! We can't stop moving! Let's go! You too! Get behind this wagon and push! Make yourself useful!" yelled a young man in a harsh tone. Sakura knew she was hired help but frowned at the treatment. They were Konoha's ninja after all!

"Hai-hai! At once, Haruna-san," said Kakashi carelessly, guessing he was facing the chief of the group. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

A large explosion of smokes surprised many villagers, until it cleared, showing dogs. Now they were puzzled. Where were they from?

"All right, guys, take a place, grab a rope and pull!" ordered Kakashi cheerfully.

"Ah!" The dogs answered obediently.

Kakashi jumped on top of a wagon and pulled a book out. Sakura simply shook her head at her sensei's attitude. She chose a wagon and began to push.

"Hey! You! Get down and push with the others!" ordered a foot stamping Haruna.

Sakura observed the man, frowning.

"I'm keeping myself rested, in case of an attack. My little genin here need the exercise but I'll just stay on standby for when they'll catch up, or when we'll face their trap, what do you say?" Kakashi waved off. Surely he would see the logic...

"Get down here this instant!"

Or not.

"You're a ninja, under my command now! And I'm going to use you as I see fit," he said, almost losing his footing by looking up at Kakashi and walking backward at the same time.

Sakura smiled to herself and couldn't stop a jab about her new found knowledge.

"Be careful, sensei! _Her_ word can be misinterpreted easily! We don't know how _she_ might decide to… use you!"

Kakashi opened his visible eye wide in comprehension and looked back at Haruna with a calculating eye.

"W-What? I'm a man! What…" she protested, but to no avail. Kakashi was already down from his perch and looked at her closely.

"Mah! What do we have here? A woman disguised as a man? Why is nobody surprised, but look worried that we found out? Might you be someone special that hold high authority? Is that it, Hime-sama?" finished Kakashi, his voice barely over a whisper.

Sakura smacked her head against the wagon she was pushing and sighed loudly. That was just great, a princess. They were the two ninjas escort of a retreating princess. They probably had missing nins him after them, in numbers enough to bring the caravan and its escort down. Sakura liked a challenge, now and them, but under a controlled environment. She kept on pushing, straining her hearing not to miss the whispered conversation between Kakashi and soon to be un-employer...

Kakashi grabbed her by the arm and forced her to walk alongside him, despite her protest.

"You know, the situation just changed…" began Kakashi seriously.

"I hired you! You'll do as you're told! This hasn't changed!" the princess replied, giving up on denying the facts.

"Well it did. You're not dealing with slaves, Hime-sama. We're Konoha's ninja. You lied about the conditions of the contract. As such, I'm well within my right to cancel it. There would have been a change in the number of ninja for this mission, as well as the cost."

"We don't have more money to spare on protection! We'll need all we have to settle down!"

"Then, this is your choice. You might very well die on this road because of your decision. If the enemies after us are professionals, they might even settle to kill only you. The rest of the caravan should have enough money to settle down thanks to your sacrifice. I hope it will help you rest in peace, despite leaving your subjects without a leader and, as such, losing the last noble line of your family."

The princess seemed to have trouble breathing.

"You… will leave us? You won't fulfill your end of the contract?"

"We'll stay to assess the enemy's strength. If we judge it overwhelming, and exceeding by too wide a margin what was per-established, we'll leave. I hope you don't have too many secrets like this one, Hime-sama," ended Kakashi darkly.

The jonin fell back at Sakura's side.

"Keep your energy. In fact, take some time to train your elemental chakra, but don't strain yourself too much. This mission is about to get a lot more… interesting."

* * *

The procession moved slowly, but steadily, thank to the ninja dogs pulling where they were needed the most. Kakashi disappeared now and then, either in patrols or laying traps in their wake. Sakura was practicing with her elemental chakra. The voltage had to be different from one hand to another to cause electricity to manifest itself. Then, by putting more space between her hands, the strength of the surge skyrocketed! She had to concentrate hard to keep it on, and under control, as it dig in her chakra something fierce!

Haruna was shooting her dirty looks while two of her man, who always seemed to be somewhere around her, look at her with evident surprise in their eyes. Not the superstitious fear the other villagers expressed when looking at her special training, but genuine surprise at her capacities. She figured the princess managed to keep two bodyguards with her and that they might be somewhat useful in case of problems. Still, it was best to assume that Kakashi and she were the last line of defense protecting the princess.

"Care to explain what you're going?" asked the princess, finally having lost the control on her tamper.

"I'm just following orders: I'm training. What I'm trying to achieve is over your comprehension but know that this mission wasn't supposed to be anything more than a training trip to me. Thanks to your lies, it probably became a losing battle to stay alive. Thanks a bunch."

The princess looked shocked and indignant.

"A rookie? They sent me a rookie with all the money we spent?"

Sakura allowed a smile to play on her lips. It was unnecessary but it would be good to set things straight with this princess-in-training.

"All that money? I am not aware of the payments details, but from my expected reward, you received what you paid for. You really consider ninjas lowly if you think we come in cheap. We constantly fight for our life and train, the rest of the time, to get more powerful, whatever our current level. A rookie you say? Please. Even if things are looking down, these are not the worst odds I've been faced against."

Sakura ignored the shocked face and made her hands crackle with electricity once more. Haruna was in the worst, most stressful and dangerous situation she ever faced! Even the older ninjas guarding her admitted clearly the danger was great! And this young girl pretends that this isn't the worst she faced? If it was not for the lack of worry she displayed, she might have consider it a bluff. Haruna left her to her training, feeling no answer to her authority. She realizes that by omitting the detail of her presence in the group, the level of the mission was downplayed. What could she have done? Send an official request, with her official seal, that could be intercepted by the enemy, giving them her location? They were ninja, for Kami's sake! They worked for the party paying them the most! What if they made a deal with the enemy and betrayed her? At least, now, they were stuck on her side.

Sakura didn't care about the turmoil the princess was in. She had her own work to do. This mission was very much like the first C-Rank turned A-Rank she did on Tazuma's bridge. She doubted they would face anything near Zabuza's level though. That didn't often happen in wars; the leader very seldom let the best elements leave his side. They would face second-grade lieutenants at best. Preferably specialists on one-on-one combat. She would have to avoid close range combat as long as she could to deal some damages with long range attacks. Thankfully, she was becoming quite the explosive specialist now. All thanks going to that mission to eradicate the Cloud ninja clan. She drew more explosive runes she ever had and found the role of placing them for maximum destruction or for a specific purpose to be very interesting. She always liked geometry, mathematics and energy related calculus. This was a combination of it all that relied a lot on her guts instinct too.

When the villagers took a break, on top of a hill, she sat down to thinker a few new toys. She bought with her some chemicals used in classic explosives. She had them in separated pouches, reducing the danger of accidental explosion in combat. She figured she could try and mix it herself depending on the need. Right now, an idea blossomed in her mind that brought a scary smile to her lips. The villagers sent one of the younger child give her some refreshment, none of them liking her psychotic look. The kid just though she was having fun playing with sand.

Kakashi landed at her side lightly, half an hour later as she put the finishing touch on her latest toy, chuckling to herself.

"Having fun, Sakura-chan?" he asked cheerfully.

"Oh yes, Kakashi-kun!" she answered on the same tone. "Wait until this baby goes off and you'll enjoy yourself too!"

Kakashi raised both eyebrows at this. Where was the 'sensei' he was entitled too? Such disrespect in the younger generations… His tone became more serious, as they didn't have that much time ahead of them.

"I'm glad to see you prepare yourself for battle, Sakura. My patrols allowed me to track at least two enemy ninja, but most probably three."

Sakura tensed.

"Only three?"

"Hai. I see you figured it out. If they know the princess is here, that she has an escort of at least two ninja bodyguards and two hired hands from Konoha, we might have a challenge before us. I do not doubt I can handle myself against anything they put us against, and I believe you can take another at least on a standoff, but my guess is that they will send the strongest against the princess herself while we're busy," analyzed Kakashi.

"Should we call out her bodyguards and pit them against one of the two first, leaving you at the princess side's for her protection?" asked Sakura.

"That would be ideal, but I fear neither the princess nor the bodyguard would accept that. Even if they would, they wouldn't stop looking over their shoulder to check on her. They wouldn't last long and I would end up in a two against one."

Sakura sighed loudly, seeing no easy way out.

"What should we do then? If we prepare ourselves to hold our position tightly, it will only give them the time to call reinforcement and wipe us all."

"There is one last option you forgot Sakura-chan…" said Kakashi sweetly.

"And what is it, Kakashi-sensei?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"To attack first."

* * *

A fuming ninja, in all the ways possible, landed heavily beside two others. His clothes had small holes and burn marks all over them. The heavy ninja had a furious look on his round face.

"This guy is no better than dead! I swear I'm going to make him pay personally!"

"Jiga, I can safely bet you fell in yet another of his traps. You should be more aware of your surroundings."

"You can't blame him too much, Renga. The guy can lay a four layers trap like nobody. There was that one that by avoiding the third layer I almost fell in the first one…"

"It's as Ruiga say! That's the work of a freaking coward afraid to show himself!"

As the leader was about to answer that, Jiga was pulled underground and a shower of kunais rained on them. The heavy ninja avoided being stabbed by numerous projectiles by using some king of force field, repelling them from his head, the only part out of the ground. The two others simply jumped out of the way. The bulky ninja's eyes widen as he heard the sizzling sound of explosive notes all around him. He activated his technique once again as the note detonated. The effect was a ring of explosions all around the buried ninja. The force of the blast showered his teammate with rocks and dust. Shielding their eyes as much as they could, they searched for the enemy's location.

A water dragon burst through the smoke, aiming for Ruiga. This later quickly made hand seals, answering the treat with a water shield that looked a lot like the water-prison technique. The dragon slammed on it, its jaw wide open. The rogue ninja smiled knowingly, letting the attack hit him fully. The head of the dragon disappeared suddenly, absorbed by the water bubble, its body not going back to reach the sender.

Kakashi hastily jumped back, letting go of his attack. At least, now they knew what to expect from this guy.

Two small summoning scroll activated over Renga as he landed, showing a rain of explosive notes tied on small lead balls in a wide area. The enemy nin smiled, the simplicity of the attack amusing him. He made hand seals, sending a blow of chilling wind toward the note, freezing some of them and stopping the other to explode near him. As he was about to end his technique, he received a hard kick behind the head, making him bit his tongue and see a lot of stars. He feel face first on the ground, his nose taking the blunt of the fall. He rolled away a bit before blindingly jumping away.

Who was that crazy ninja? You don't expose yourself in the range of your own explosives on purpose! What if he had choose to get away? Renga realized that the simplicity of the attack was done on purpose, taunting him to counter it as it was so easy. Then, his enemy took the moment he countered the attack to approach from behind.

As Renga opened his eyes, spitting blood from his damaged tongue, he finally saw his enemy. It wasn't that hard, she was about four feet away a kunai high in her right hand, ready to finish him off. Ruiga drew his own kunai, blocking the attack and kicking her away. The blow wasn't that strong but he was still shaking from the previous blow, and it served to break contact between them. Looking back, he saw his teammates busy with the masked leaf him. He sharply turned back toward the pink air-head who dared defy him. She would regret this, but right now, they had more urgent matter. The target was left unprotected if he didn't count the two bodyguards. He would have to postpone her demise.

Sakura ran back toward the enemy, ignoring the slight pain on her side. It would barely leave a bruise and she was already forgetting it. She had the upper hand! She had to keep the pressure on him. She could not simply wait for Kakashi to come and help her finish this. She had to win on her own. Making hands seals, she called another technique upon her enemy.

"Gokaryu no Jutsu! (Grand Fireball)"

Sakura practiced her fire jutsu hard as they would be dead useful to detonate explosives later on.

Her enemy stopped his retreat and slammed his hand on the ground calling out a technique she failed to recognize. The effect was obvious enough as an ice barrier rose, blocking her attack. Steam rose as fire met ice and the enemy ninja jumped back, his arm protecting his face from being scorched by the hot steam. He threw a kunai at her that she dodged without too much problem. It kept her from sending another attack though as her enemy closed in for hand-to-hand combat. He began circling her, drawing a kunai in each hand. Sakura simply faced him, looking at him intently. Her eyes widen and she put her index and middle finger in the dispel seal as her enemy charged her.

"Kai!" She spoke confidently.

The clone in front of her vanished, leaving her alone. She've been had! He escaped! Probably was he going after the princess. It was not the time to ponder, she had to get back to the caravan!

* * *

Kakashi was having a hard time. The plan was to disable one at the start of the fight and take out the two others one on one. Unfortunately, the big ninja, even if badly hurt on the head, was still very much in the fight. He seemed strangely motivated to club him with his gigantic weapon. The other was still in his water bubble, trying to get him with a huge amount of water. Sooner or later, he would be caught by one of the other. Speaking of which, the weapon of the bulky enemy nin swung pretty close to his head. He felt dizzy right after it, distracting him long enough for the water user to grab his arm.

"Shit!" said Kakashi, watching the weapon speeding toward him.

The magnetic user grinned as he smashed his enemy with all his strength. The masked nin face showed surprise a split second before disappearing in a cloud of smoke, leaving a log behind. The log was hit like a ball on a home run in a cracking noise. Planning on sending the enemy toward Ruiga for him to capture, the water user received instead a wooden log in the stomach, that went right through his shield. The bubble wobbled as the ninja fell to his knees in search for his breath. The water searching for Kakashi fell on the ground, lifeless.

Kakashi, on a tree branch, understood the weapon user's method. It was a magnetic charge that would disrupt his brain on contact. There was one easy solution to counter that.

Jiga felt the enemy approach from behind him. He turned on himself, swatting his club widely. Kakashi, instead of avoiding it, kicked it hard upward, sending the weapon straight at its user's face. The magnetic user fell on the ground backward, unconscious.

Was it from the hit or the magnetic field on the weapon disrupting his brain, no one would ever know.

Kakashi walked toward the water user who was slowly getting back up.

"How can you avoid Jiga's weapon effect? Just by kicking it, you should be drooling on the ground!" he said, unbelieving.

"Attacking a lightning user with a magnetic weapon is a bad idea. I improvised some lightning chakra circulation around my head, creating a small magnetic field of my own. My feet are still a bit shocked though."

The water user's eyes bulged. Improvised a lightning shield around his head? Who _was_ that guy? He decided to act while he still could and raised his arms, lifting more water that was lying around in the air, trapping Kakashi in a water bubble similar to his own. He bit his finger, drawing blood and spread his hand in front of himself.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

Smoke erupted in front of him but only for a moment. A shark erupted from it, speeding toward an impassive Kakashi, his jaw showing an impressive dentition. Kakashi raised a hand, electricity jumping between his fingers.

"Fool! You'll shock yourself!" laughed the water user.

"Only if I send a bolt forward," replied Kakashi calmly.

As the shark neared him, the simple jolts between his fingers shaped themselves in a wild chidori, reacting savagely due to the different environment. The result was still the same. Kakashi ripped the summoned beast by the middle, dispelling it about at mid-length.

The water user grimaced angrily.

"Don't be too cocky. You're still trapped," he spat.

"So are you. If you leave here, the technique is cancelled. That leaves you vulnerable to my summons," Kakashi said lazily.

"What summons?" asked Ruiga, nervous.

As soon as he said that, five ninja dogs erupted from the ground and pounded on him.

"Those summons," stated Kakashi, master of the obvious, as the water trap fell apart while the water user got mauled by the hound.

* * *

Sakura burst in the caravan, searching for traces of a fight. She didn't searched far as she saw two old villagers on the ground, sporting minor wounds.

"What happened? Where's the princess?"

"She left shortly after you," told one of the villagers, "…saying she'd make way ahead to reach the destination faster. A ninja came a few minutes ago and threatened to kill the children. We didn't have a choice… but she went with her bodyguards! She should make it…"

"Where did they go?" asked Sakura urgently.

"Head between these two mountains. You should run into them."

Sakura dashed ahead as fast as she could, hoping to get there in time. She had a feeling she didn't see the best this guy could do.

* * *

Haruna was running around, trying to get back on the main road. If only she could shake her pursuer… Who was she kidding? She didn't have a snowball chance in hell. Even if she managed to lose him and somehow get to her destination alone, he would simply track her down and kill her there. Not that she thought she could last that long. Renga, who was the one leading the attack on the castle she fled, busted out from the cover of the trees. Her bodyguards did their best and she hoped against reason that they survived. As the ground in front of her exploded, that hope came crushing down.

"Oops! Look like I missed ya! I thought that you'd be better at running away! I guess that as a princess, this is the hardest exercise you ever did…" Ruiga mocked from behind her.

Haruna was tired and saw no point in getting up from her sitting position. She would soon regret her choice. She felt a lot of heat coming from above. So hot! It was worst than any desert could be, she was sure of it! She fell flat on the ground, panting at the hot air burning her lungs. Her hands, face and neck were getting redder by the seconds.

"I bet you're not used to the outdoor either! Here! Let me help you! This should build you up a tan in no time!" kept on Renga. "Don't look up though; my ice lenses would burn your iris. I think I'll just raise the heat until you beg me to kill you. A quick 'boom' and it's going to be over. Let's see where a princess pain's threshold is."

Haruna laid motionless on the ground now, unable to move. Her body refused to answer her anymore. Even if she decided to give up, she could not even muster the voice to say it.

Renga got as close as he could without getting in range of his own attack, continually taunting her. That might be why he got caught off guard so easily. Receiving a flying kick in the back, he fell aside Haruna, under the deep heat. Screaming, he stopped the lenses from focusing the sun's ray. Opening his eyes, he looked at his technique and saw black little dots on it. For a second, he thought that his sight was damaged. But then he saw a steel wire going from the dots all the way to the ground, in the right hand off the pink-haired Kunoichi that he faced earlier.

"Say cheese"! she told him, smiling, as electricity burst from her hand, ran in the wire and reached the black dots resting on the lenses.

The five compressed, hard-detonating bombs exploded thanks to the lightning activation. The flash alone was twice brighter than with a normal flash bomb. The pink haired kunoichi jumped at Renga's side, picked up the princess lying on the ground and jumped out of the way of the rapidly falling ice shards. Ruiga tried to jump away but fell back down on the ground. Looking back, he saw both his pants legs pinned on the ground with kunais. It was the last thing he saw before being crushed and ripped apart by the remains of his own technique.

* * *

Haruna groaned, fighting her way back to consciousness. Painfully lifting an arm, she saw it wrapped in bandages. She felt the sticky feeling of unguent under the wrapping on her hand. Probably did she look like a Mummy right now. She didn't try smiling, figuring it would only bring pain on her burned face. She felt so much relief. Somehow, she survived. One of the caravan's villager opened the flap closing the tent she was under, a vase in hand. Haruna hoped this was water as her throat felt so very dry.

The villager girl, seeing their leader awake, rushed to her side, propping a few pillow under her head and helping her drink.

"The… enemy…" managed to whisper Haruna tiredly.

"Do not worry, Hime-sama!" said the young girl. "The Leaf shinobi got them all! We are all safe and sound, and we made it to our new settlement! Your bodyguard… suffered injuries but they should heal, with time. You have been unconscious for two days! Don't worry about a thing! The Leaf ninja even helped us out setting out the first habitations and preparing fields! They truly are god-sent…"

Haruna let the happy chatter of her servant lull her to sleep. Damn Leaf ninja. How dare they even kill her preconception she had about ninjas… She knew they were not paid for that.

Haruna managed to leave her tent another two days later. The changes to the once simply but welcoming patch of land were astonishing. A large field was plowed already and children were slowly sowing grain. Piles of chopped trees were lying a bit everywhere, next to the start of many freshly dug basements. One, particularly large, still had dirt flying out of the ground at an astounding rate. Nearing it, she saw dogs with the Leaf headbands on and vests digging around, tongue lolling to the side. She had, around her, the result of weeks of work, not days.

"It seems our princess rose from her slumber. It's time to end this contract," she heard from behind her.

Turning around, she saw Kakashi throwing a rope tied to an entire tree on the ground. He clapped his hand and the ninja dogs all ran before him, sitting in a perfect line.

"All right, boys! You did a terrific job! You're dismissed."

The dog, as one, barked and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Consider this," said Kakashi to Haruna, showing the work done, "...as a good luck present to you and your people. An insensitive for you to make businesses with Konoha again, if you even have the needs of ninjas."

Sakura walked to Kakashi's side, brushing all the sand she had over her away.

"Yes. It's such a pleasure to work for someone who risks her own safety to protect her subject. That's why you left the caravan, isn't it? You knew that the ninjas, as the professionals they were, would leave the villagers alone and go after you since you were isolated and an easy target. Wasn't it your plan?" asked Sakura, her tone bordering sarcasm.

Haruna's mouth went dry again and she felt the urge to defend herself and her actions, as strange as it was.

"Don't be so hard on her Sakura-chan. After all, Hime-sama has no idea how we, ninjas, think," said Kakashi falsely patronizing.

Haruna felt her head drop slightly and shame overcame her.

"With this, we'll depart, Hime-sama. It was a pleasure," finished Kakashi, bowing slightly.

He and Sakura turned around and took off running and jumped in the trees as soon as they reached them. Haruna turned toward her villagers, seeing them adapt automatically to the tasks at hands now that the two ninjas were gone. Their stoicism remembered her exactly who she was representing, and what her duty was to them.

"Hime-sama, you shouldn't stay up too long today. You will tire yourself out," told her the girl that seemed to be her official servant now.

"Yes. Let's get back to the tent. There is much to do. I will need my calligraphy material, paper, wax and my family seals. It is time to send missives to the other Lords and influential merchants to remember them of our existence."

* * *

**Neck…. Hurt…. Too long…. Hunched over the keyboard….. AAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGG!**


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: /Waiting beside a trap made or a knotted rope and a steaming bowl of ramen /-sigh- no sign of a Naruto… I feel like I'll never catch one…**

* * *

Naruto walked alongside Asuma, both hands closed in fists. A slight ripping sound was heard and he opened them to show Azuma their content. Two neatly cut leaves. One was cut from top to bottom and the other from left to right.

"Nice going on the control there, Naruto. Your next exercise will be to cut the leaf in two again, but on the thickness," said Azuma, nodding his head.

Naruto blinked twice, and then grinned. Now _that_ was a challenge!

Choji looked at the scene, a puzzled look on his face.

"Say… Shikamaru?" he asked.

"What is it, Choji?" answered the Chuunin teen at his side.

"I don't understand well what Naruto is trying to do. I know it must be important, but I just don't get this elemental thing. What's the use in putting wind in your chakra?" he asked, genuinely curious.

Ino walked closer wordlessly, showing her interest in Shikamaru's answer. He couldn't blame them. Seeing Naruto so far in his training, so far than his teammate didn't even understood his training was a little bit frustrating.

"Say… You have to nail a plank. Let's compare the hammer to your chakra. Using chakra is like using an ordinary, iron hammer of a medium size to do the job. Using elemental chakra is like using a hammer of the same size, put twice heavier. It's more efficient for the job; you'll be able to nail bigger nails in harder woods. The better is your elemental chakra control, the heavier the hammer."

Choji stood silent a while.

"Then, he'll be able to use technique you can't do with ordinary chakra, stronger techniques. And the techniques he uses already will be stronger," summered Choji slowly.

"The technique that he can use with elemental chakra, yes," nodded Shikamaru.

"Isn't it necessary to control your elemental chakra as a Jonin?" asked Ino, looking at Naruto.

"Yes," said Shikamaru, sighing, "Most Jonin, especially the instructors, control two of them."

"How far ahead his Naruto?" asked Choji, more to himself.

"We must still be kids to him," said Ino adverting her gaze from the other blond of the group.

"Don't say that, Ino. Naruto isn't like that," countered Shikamaru.

"Maybe… but that's how I feel compared to his level right now. I'm so far behind…"

"No, you're not. He's the one who's far ahead. Never forget that. Even most instructors looks at him and Sasuke in awe. Since we decided to grow strong too, we should do like Lee, Ten-Ten or Sakura who all had boost in their power after training with them," stated Shikamaru. It was a hard truth to admit, but there was a limit to what you could do with plans.

Ino looked back at Naruto, and smiled. Choji and Shikamaru each took a step away from her. She just got an idea, and it scared them to know what it was. They were better off not knowing. Good luck, Naruto.

'And sorry,' though Shikamaru.

* * *

Azuma's team, plus Naruto, were in Umi no Kumi, the city the nearest of the location of their mission, and the residence of the employer.

"Thank you for making haste in your travel, Azuma-san" said Illumi, the town's mayor. "As you must have been informed, we do not face dangerous threat enough that we need to hire ninja for protection. No offence, but that would ruin us in the long run! However, the ships carrying precious merchandises, including the payments for our protection squads have been attacked. It is always the same thing: tidal waves, the sight of a green sea monster and the ship getting damaged under the water lines, sinking it."

The middle-aged man sighed loudly, showing it wasn't the end of it.

"We tried to send divers to bring back some of the money lost but the ships that could be reached all showed the same things: they were emptied. Now, the next shipment shall bring the late pay of our protection squad. They promised to keep on working if we simply cover the back-up wages. This is the first treat that come from underwater and we're not equipped to deal with that, and neither are our protection squads. If you can secure this shipment, Konoha is going to receive a percentage of its cargo. Retrieve the content of the lost ships, and you'll receive a higher percentage for them. Capture the beast responsible for this and we'll pay the double of the reward posted on the Town Hall's wall," the mayor finished.

Naruto nodded, taking all of this in. This could be a very lucrative mission for Konoha.

"We'll do all in our power to secure this shipment and capture the beast responsible. Anything else will be secondary objectives, if we can achieve the primary goals fast enough," assessed Azuma. Finding back the lost shipments could prove to be a wild goose chase. They were as well to keep at the bases.

"Thank you Azuma-san," said the mayor, bowing low, "We'll leave the procedures in your hands."

The Konoha ninjas left the town hall to settle down at an inn. The shipment would arrive in two days time. They got there early. They would use the spare time to investigate anything else out of the ordinary. After all, monsters don't care for treasure. Gold could be explained, as it shines. But what about sealed barrels of spices, the precious silk or weapons? If someone stole all that, he must have a stash somewhere nearby as it would be hard to carry as it was. No additional traffic was noticed on the water so it wasn't a ship that fled with the content of the cargo. As strange as it sounded, it must be done underwater.

Azuma speculate the actions of missing Rain ninja. They were known for their water abilities and most of them carry breathers around.

Their research proved to be mostly fruitless.

Azuma handled most of the interrogation as people were less likely to lie to him. Shikamaru took notes and put references on a map. After a while, feeling useless, Naruto proposed that he, Ino and Choji split up, if only to explore the place. If people were less likely to lie to Azuma, they were less prone to hide from children.

* * *

Naruto strolled around lazily, taking the pulse of the city. It seemed to rely heavily on the maritime traffic and commerce. The market had a bit of all the products of the sea as well as of the lands' as they very fertile all around. Naruto turned his head toward a noisy group of kids, about two or three years younger than he was. Seeing them bullying a girl about his age covered with bandages, his blood boiled instantly.

"Hoi! What do you think you're doing?" he asked loudly, walking toward them.

"Get lost, blondie! She's a freak and deserve it all!" yelled the possible leader, his hands on his hips.

Naruto figured he was that confident because of the number of thugs that was behind him. That, and the fact that Naruto took off his headband to blend in better. He didn't want to blow his cover for a bunch of kids, but if they were so prone to throw rocks, maybe were they ready to take as much? Naruto walked beside the girls, helping her up carefully. She was still eyeing the kids that now circled them, warily. Naruto just winked at her. The 'boss' didn't like to be ignored that way.

"Are you deaf? Get lost!" he screamed, throwing a rock at Naruto.

Despite being less than four meter away, Naruto caught the offending projectile as if his hand waited for it. He turned toward the kid and grinned. The poor kid never understood how he was, one moment, standing and staring at the blond and the other, lying on his belly, propped on one of Naruto's knee, facing the ground.

"Bad kids deserve to be punished," Naruto said in an ominous tone, "I think a good spanking is in order."

And he did just that. An angry mother's spanking would have been a blessing compared to what he gave. The other kids watched in horror as Naruto's hand got down repeatedly on their leader's butt, emitting a painful clapping sound each time. By the time Naruto was done, the kid was througfully humiliated and feeling sore. He wouldn't sit straight on a chair for a few days.

Naruto then forced the kid to stand upright. Even that looked to be painful.

"You liked being hurt? Being humiliated? Remember that the next time you wanna gang up on someone."

Naruto let him go and turned to look at the junior gang members.

"Now, who wants to learn that same lesson?" he asked lightly.

The kids might as well kawamiri'd away so fast they ran. Naruto sighed and turned toward the damsel in distress he just saved. She was on her knees, once more, picking up some fruits that fell from her grocery bag in the commotion. Naruto, ever the gentleman, helped her.

"Thank you, but was that really necessary?" asked the girl with a gentle and shy voice.

"Believe me: I hated that almost as much as he did. I rather spank bad girls my own age…" Naruto replied to the girl, who displaying a huge blush.

Naruto gently took the bag, wordlessly offering to help her carry it, and settled it against him with his left arm. His right hand was busy taking the girl's right hand and kissing it.

"Uzumaki Naruto, at your service."

If she wasn't embarrassed enough before, that did it. She quickly pulled back her hand against her chest.

"I'm… Isaribi," she confessed.

Naruto began walking at her side, smiling widely.

"Isaribi-chan! What a cute name! I think I'll escort you to your place, just in case these kids would entertain ideas of revenge…" Naruto offered kindly, resting his right hand on her hips, drawing her closer to him.

Her reaction was instantaneous. She glided out of his reach, took her grocery bag in the same smooth move and bowed slightly, facing him.

"Thank you very much, Naruto-san, for your help. I think I'll manage from here on. Please, do not follow me," she said. Her voice showing clear signs of strain.

She turned back and took off in a light run, Naruto watching her where she left him. He had a slight frown on his serious face.

* * *

Naruto got in Azuma's room at the Inn. The rest of the team was sprawled on different chairs or directly on the bed for Ino's case.

"Found anything, Naruto?" asked Shikamaru, taking in the blond's face. Azuma turned toward Naruto too, knowing Shikamaru wouldn't ask for any reason.

Naruto stood there, leaning against a wall, his head low.

"I don't know. It's just a gut feeling, nothing I can prove. It's not a lead we could follow right now."

He soon left out of the room to get to his own, as nothing new arose. Once the door was closed, Choji turned toward Shikamaru, his eyes begging for an explanation.

"He found something, or more probably someone related to this case. Someone he feels like protecting. It might get complicated. Naruto wouldn't lose the mission objective from sight…I hope," he finished, rubbing the bridge of his nose with two fingers.

"I'm sure he's not, but he's still trying to find a way to save everyone," stated Asuma, lighting a cigarette.

"And he doesn't trust us to do just that?" asked Ino, indignated.

Asuma blew up some smoke.

"Maybe he's not sure if the one he's worried about wants to be saved."

* * *

Naruto was enjoying the ride, as much as he could in the tiny boat. He figured it could be worse. He could be the one rowing with Choji. Ino growled seeing him at the end of the boat, all ease, while she had to sweat with effort under the sun. Naruto found exceedingly amusing that the number of leader on the boat was greater than the number of leaded peoples.

Naruto watched if they were trailed while Azuma, at the other end of the small boat, searched the horizon for the ship they were to greet. Shikamaru was watching the clouds all the while.

"The target is straight ahead," announced Azuma. "Get ready. We'll leave the boat soon and surround the ship as soon as possible. Be wary of the waves while water walking."

"We will," answered Naruto, snickering.

Shikamaru sighed while Ino chuckled at the 'w' turn of wording.

They neared the ship that looked to be sailing without a hint of trouble. That is, until the ship suddenly shook and slowed down. Asuma lost no time.

"Choji! Come with me! We have to stop the ship from sinking! Shikamaru, Ino, Naruto, you go after the underwater attacker: go!"

The two Chuunins and Genins obeyed at once. Azuma went behind the ship while Choji ran to the front. The 'big-boned' ninja inflated himself and grabbed the front of the ship, half-resting it on his back. To his surprise, Asuma started to push the boat forward. Choji did his best to follow the pace, but was more than often gliding over the water. He knew he wouldn't be able to carry the ship all the way to the shore, but he had to get it out of the combat zone.

Naruto dove in the water first, eager to solve this. Shikamaru and Ino followed shortly, realizing the changes an underwater battle provided. Ino found out just how slowed down she was while Shikamaru experienced just how unstable were the shadows underwater. It would be easier to defend the ship close to it, the structure providing more than enough shadows for his techniques.

Naruto swam his best toward around the boat, looking around wildly for the attacker. He finally spotted something that hid near the bottom of the lake. It saw him and swam away. Damn it was fast! Last time he heard about such underwater speed, it was when Kisame fled with Itachi. Naruto's guts wrenched for a second at the thought of facing the missing ninja in his environment. He picked up the pace, rationalizing that the missing ninja would never run from a fight, quite the contrary.

While speeding away, Naruto saw Shikamaru going over the opposite side of the boat, who was slowly but surely gaining speed in its retreat toward the shore. Naruto knew that once the Nara would reach it, the prey would become the attacker and the ship's shadow would transform in some sort of tentacle monster. Ino was far behind him, doing her best to keep up. Naruto knew she could become handy if Shikamaru trapped the enemy. His role would resume to keep her close to the boat for when Shikamaru would be ready.

Once he got close enough to see the 'green monster', Naruto's heart pinched somehow. It had about the same size as Isaribi. It was humanoid and very fish-like. It sped toward him suddenly, its intent evident. It wanted them to keep clear from its target. It almost collided with him when it stopped. Naruto had a clear view of her now. The gils were where she kept her bandages and her hair was more like fins now. Her palmed hands stood out clearly. Naruto still recognized her easily, looking at her face that now held surprise and distress. She had no intention of fighting him.

Naruto read in her expression that she didn't wanted to hurt him. She shook herself, turned around just as Ino reached them. The fish-girl swam away, Naruto going after her instinctively. Even with his weight off (as he's not stupid enough to go on an underwater mission with them) his top swimming speed could not match Isaribi's. Still, Ino was left far behind. Shikamaru, now behind and under the ship, sent as much shadow as he could after her, realizing she would not get close for an easy catch, but she was already too far.

Naruto swam kept on the chase alone. He always managed to keep her in sight and she began showing signs of hesitation. Naruto knew what it meant: they were getting near her hiding place and she didn't want him to find out. Even if she might strongly suspect that he recognized her, she knew what he was there for: they were hired to capture the green monster.

The thing was, Naruto didn't know if he could last until she reached her lair! Already, he was starting to feel the premise of the lack of oxygen. Unless…

* * *

Isaribi was clearly panicking now. What would she do? What could she do? She might outrun him now but she guessed he'll be able to track back to her. Turning back to check on his progress, she saw him in an unexpected tight spot. The kind, blond ninja was clawing at the water and trashing around, bubbles leaving his mouth freely. Then he stopped moving altogether. Oh no! He lacked the oxygen to get back to the surface! Isaribi swam to him, fast as an arrow, grabbed him by the shoulders and sped away, not hesitating for a second.

She reached the underwater entrance to her cave in record times and pulled Naruto out of the water on his back. Finding out he stopped breathing, she began mouth-to-mouth procedures and the blond began coughing water almost immediately. Taking deep breaths, he opened an eye, too clear for someone just rising out of unconsciousness.

"Hey…" Naruto said with a tired voice, smiling lightly, "I didn't know you were the kind of girl to kiss on the first date…unless we count that time at the market!"

Isaribi pulled back and realization hit her.

"You… faked drowning. You were conscious the whole time," she stated more than asked.

"Yeah," acknowledged Naruto, still breathing deeply. "But I had to get rid of most of my air so that it would look convincing. I lost too much to afford moving underwater."

"What if I let you drown back there? You'd be fish food by now!" she protested, frowning.

"I knew you were not that kind of person. You didn't even hesitated," Naruto shrugged.

The Leaf ninja slowly sat up and looked at her sadly.

"The time came to face the music, Isaribi-chan. Who are you working for?" the blond asked.

Isaribi opened frightful eyes and turned away, changing back to her aquatic form. Before she could even make two steps, Naruto already immobilized her from behind. Her attempt at getting away proved useless as the boy was way stronger than he looked. She realized that in close combat, even underwater, she didn't stood a chance against him. Her body lost all energy, her mind filled with despair. She was caught. She would lose what little freedom she had. She'd be thrown to the villagers and their hate for her, for the monster she was, would be justified. Amachi-sama, her master and the only one she was allowed to talk to, would probably abandon her, or kill her if he felt merciful. With the boat she just lost, that wasn't going to happen. She was in troubles, in so much troubles…

The first sob barely shook her shoulders, but it grew until it filled the cave with the echo of her crying. She fell on her knee and found herself in a warm embrace. She grabbed Naruto's wet shirt like a lifeline, feeling she would drown in the darkest depths if she let go.

"It's going to be okay…You'll get through, don't worry. I'm here with you. I won't let bad things happen to you…"

Naruto's soothing produced the same results as hours of interrogations.

"I didn't want too! I had no choice! Amachi-sama told me I had to work to compensate on the work they did on me! But I'm a monster! He gave me what I needed to live and… and… I don't know what he does with all this! He just asked me to drown the ships and bring as much as I could to the research lab! I swear I don't know anything else! I don't! I'm of no other use! I can't do anything else! I bet he don't even need me for this. No one need a monster…"

"You are not a monster…" began Naruto slowly, tightening his hold on her.

"How do you know?" Isaribi almost shouted, sobbing, afraid to lose the only comfort she had. "People aren't giving you the dirty look when you walk down the street, nor do they throw rocks at you or teach their child to do so!" she finished, angry.

She forced herself to distance herself from Naruto, sniffing, but with little conviction. Naruto just kept his hold on her and she gave up fast. She was calming down some.

"Of course not. In my village, I'm a hero. They all, or pretty much all, love me and respect me. But you know, I made a mistake once, on a trip to a small village. I was very young and alone with my brother. We were not even ninja but we liked doing "missions" to practice. We went for an ice cream, and I let slip who I really was, expecting maybe a free sample or something. The result was far from what I expected. I got thrown away. Believe me, it was not ice cream I got free of charge but a mob of angry villagers, out for my blood. My brother and I fled as fast as we could, confused. We tried it carefully in a small isolated farm, and got pretty much the same result. My kind are not welcomed anywhere. I am at very few places. On some small scale, I can understand you, even if I never lived more than a few hours in your shoes in my whole life."

Isaribi breathed slowly, her eyes wide open. What could this gentle, cute guy could have ever done, or could ever be, that would get him an instantaneous reaction from a crowd similar to what is done to her? Naruto guessed part of her thoughts and smiled. He hooked that fish, if he might say so, but never to her face. He simply had to roll in the line.

"If you want to know my secret, you'll have to come with me, to this village where I told you they welcomed the 'monster' I am with open arms."

Isaribi fought the hope she felt rising and snorted.

"Right. You're a ninja, aren't you? You just captured the monster responsible for the ship wreck with a little cunning, a little strength and a lot of sweet talk. You're telling me you won't hand me to them and will go out of your way to help me, just like that?" she said with derision.

"We only accepted to 'capture' the one responsible. As long as we stop you from doing it again, they have no hand in your fate," answered Naruto, confidently. Yep, Azuma and the old man would kill him alright, probably with some help from Tsunade-hime.

"I don't mind being your captive…" sighed Isaribi, snuggling against him, her eyes closed.

She kept them closed until she realized exactly what she said, and blushed at Naruto's heartfelt laugh.

"I guess it's settled then! Now we only have to handle the matter of your 'master', the real responsible in all of this. Tell me all about that research lab you told me about…"

* * *

Azuma's team was sprawled on the beach, the Jonin himself quite winded.

"That's a good job, team," managed to say Azuma, over the noise of the cheering crew behind them.

Azuma showed an impressive demonstration of strength and stamina by keeping his end of the boat afloat all along. The two Genins and the Chunnin had to switch places to keep the tip of the boat afloat. Choji lasted a while but ultimately had to deflate and rest on the ship's deck, panting heavily. Surprisingly, Ino was the next to pitch in. Their struggle gad caught the attention of a small whale that swam around them. Ino managed to possess her mind and pulled them on her back until she could not hold the possession.

Shikamaru took the relay in an imaginative use of his shadows: extending the ones of the ship, he managed to make them solid enough to provide support on the water and transformed two of them in the shape of arms that paddled the ship forward. The sight was the strangest thing ever and Azuma was grinning all the while, proud of his team.

Choji didn't lost any time on board and ate two full bags of chips he got out of nowhere as soon as his breathing calmed down. He took his turn before Shikamaru was totally exhausted, as it is never good to push yourself that hard, for normal ninja, anyway… Ino scanned the water but no other creature was nearly strong enough near them to help, the scared whale being long gone. She contented herself to cheer on Shikamaru and Choji, their combined effort near the end being enough to pull the ship on the shore. She was tired too, but it was mainly because she was the one to pull Choji from under the ship to lie down on the beach!

"Where's Naruto, do you recon?" asked the Akamichi in between breaths.

Shikamaru shrugged, not looking too worried.

"He acted strangely, underwater. I hope he didn't do anything too troublesome," he simply said.

"Now that I think of it, he seemed to recognize that girl," said Ino, pondering.

"A girl?" asked Azuma, frowning.

"Well, yeah. It looked like a fish-girl more than a scary green monster. She couldn't be more than, what, fifteen?" she said, guessing.

"Hum. A girl no more than fifteen able to out-swim ninja with evident experiment mutations. Naruto probably did something troublesome," deadpanned Shikamaru.

"How can you tell?" asked his sensei.

"Naruto was always a sucker for older girls," the Nara sighed.

* * *

As it went, Shikamaru proved to be right. Naruto was waiting for them in Azuma's room, on his bed, a blushing girl resting against his chest.

"Told'cha," simply said Shikamaru to an unbelieving Ino.

That sent Naruto looking smug and Isaribi looking sideway to him, an eyebrow raised.

Azuma sighed, scratching the back of his head as the team settled.

"Naruto…protecting the target isn't part of the contract, and pretty much against the ninja ethic…" he said.

"She's barely the tip of the iceberg, Azuma-san. What's underneath is much more dangerous. She's working under the order of a guy named Amachi in a complex nearby. The guy is some kind of medical ninja turned mad scientist under Orochimaru's teaching," Naruto explained, his face all business-like.

"From what I gathered from Isaribi-chan, The lost Sannin haven't been here for years, but he made an appearance lately. The ship's attacks began right after that. I believe his visits sparked renewed zeal in Amachi who needed funds to get some harder to find resource on the black market. Isaribi was pretty much used all along."

Isaribi's head dropped hearing that but Naruto squeezed one of her hand discreetly, never breaking eye contact with Azuma.

"This changes things, as it might give us a chance to complete all the assignment's objectives in a short time," stated Asuma, rubbing his chin. "We captured the responsible, although it could be argued since the leader is still out there. The ship with the payment is saved and we have a lead on the other shipment's location. Good job, Naruto. We'll discuss the matter of your…charge when this will be over."

"Thank you, Azuma-sensei," said Naruto, bowing his head.

"I want to help!" suddenly said Isaribi in a strong voice, surprising everyone. She shied back right after her outburst but didn't back down on her words.

"I… I want to help you. I know every entrances. They wouldn't expect you coming in from an underwater passage and you would corner Amachi-sa…Amachi. I could show you where he keeps his experiments, his files and I can fight too!" she said, more and more eager.

Azuma looked doubtful. It was understandable, as she was an enemy just an hour ago. Naruto looked deep in thoughts.

"Can I propose something, Azuma-sensei?" he asked, still pensive.

"Go on."

"I bet that if I infiltrated the underwater passage with Isaribi-chan, you could, with the rest of the team, hammer the main entrance. I would be able to cut the retreating ones and prevent Amachi from escaping."

"You think you can take care of everyone that is going to flee at once, Naruto?" asked Shikamaru.

"Yes," the blond stated firmly.

Ino coughed something that sounded an awfully lot like 'cocky' but Naruto simply grinned. Azuma scratched his head, then his beard.

"Okay, but Shikamaru go with you two. They won't expect anyone else than Isaribi-san to get out of there and the speed of execution doesn't matter. What matter is that no one escape and Shikamaru's shadow will be more useful to you in the tunnels, I expect," ordered Azuma.

"You've got a point," admitted Naruto. We'll do it like that, then. When are you expected back, Isaribi-chan?"

The girl blushed at the constant use of familiarity from Naruto, but she managed a clear answer.

"In about an hour, an hour and a half maximum. They expect me to wait for everyone to leave the surrounding of the boat, as I never could solve myself to drown them…" she said, averting her eyes.

Asuma's eyes were like steel. He didn't like child exploitation anymore than Naruto.

"Then we'll go as soon as possible in order to benefit the surprise effect as much as we can," he announced.

Azuma's team looked like they were about to cry.

"We just finished pulling a boat from the sea to the shore!" whinned Ino.

Choji looked to the side, fidgeting. He didn't wanted to admit it but he was tired too.

Naruto sighed.

"I guess we don't have a choice. Either you sit this one out or you take soldier pills. I would opt for the second solution as we could finish the mission right there."

Ino groaned but Choji wordlessly got out a small bag of pills.

"Those are made by my mom. They are more potent and the drawback is lessened. Just expect to feel very hungry in about two or three hours," he said.

Azuma discreetly took one too. The ninjas took a few moments to draw a crude map from Isaribi's directions and planned out the timing of the attack. They kept the pills for minutes before the attack, for maximal effects.

Azuma pulled a map out of one of his pocket and Isaribi showed them exactly where Orochimaru's hideout was located. Azuma decided they would enter the complex in the most brutal and noisy way possible, and that Naruto would use it as a cue to attack from the inside with Shikamaru. They left the town and went off road as soon as the occasion presented itself. Naruto quickly decided he would carry Isaribi while they were not in the water, as too not slow them down. Her talents were useless out of her element.

The teams parted once they reached the closest river throwing itself in the sea. Naruto and Shikamaru ran on the water for a while, following a transformed Isaribi, while Azuma, Choji and Ino crossed it and ran toward the main entrance, still out of sight. Naruto and Shikamaru quickly dove in the river and swam as fast as they could. It was Isaribi's turn to wait on them.

To the ninja, it was taking forever, as they were used to fastest way of travelling. They finally went in a underwater stone tunnel, so long they thought they were going to drown there! Isaribi finally leaped out of the water and lost no time, knowing her new friends were in urgent need to get back to the surface.

One of the resident ninja, the only one present in the cave, looked at her expectantly.

"Where is the first load?" he asked, annoyed.

"Just bellow. I'll need help to haul it in as it too heavy for me." She said nervously. The man wasn't the least bit suspicious: they trained her to be always afraid of them.

"It's about time you bring it charges that are worth the effort. Let's do it, Green Bean," he said, snorting.

He knelt near the surface of the water only to have the hem of his shirt grabbed by a hand that pulled him underwater. A few bubbles rose and the two Chuunins climbed out, breathless, Naruto pulling the unconscious thug behind him. He swiftly bound him in steel wire and nodded toward Isaribi.

"We only need the signal and we're ready to move on."

Naruto and Shikamaru waited on each side of the open tunnel that led in this cave, Isaribi staying in plain sight. They pulled the unconscious ninja against a wall and put a tape over his mouth. Their precaution proved to be useless as the ground shook from an explosion just minutes after they broke in themselves.

"The signal," stated Naruto.

Isaribi gulped loudly but ran to the tunnel and lead the way in the complex underground maze.

* * *

**Yay! Another down! Sorry for the cut-off, it was the only place available...^_^**


	26. Chapter 26

**Author's note:** I found a new Beta! Even if only for the spelling and obvious errors, it's better than nothing. It's going to keep the delay between each chapter a bit shorter. I told you all I didn't give up on this fanfic!

**Disclaimer:** The truth is...I'm Naruto. This is my story. Unfortunately, I sold my soul to Aniplex. Heh, lose some, win some.

* * *

The two Leaf ninjas counted to three and followed the deserter from the sounds of her steps. Isaribi ran in a direct course toward the main entrance, figuring this would be the path to meet the most fleeting ninjas. Sound of distant battles echoed in the halls. She finally met a group of running scientists going the same way as her.

"What's going on?" she asked, feigning worries.

"Some kind of enemy attack. We have to free the other lab freaks like you. You'll lead them toward the main entrance since you're here and fight whoever attacked us. Make yourself useful for once!" he said with as much venom as possible in his voice.

Isaribi, having had a taste of what respect felt like from Naruto, couldn't help but to frown.

"What is it, freak? You're not starting to overestimate your position now, are you?" said another, grinning from ear to ear. He waited for the stammered apologies, which never came.

Isaribi jumped forward and turned back toward them, effectively blocking the way to the holding cells. The four scientists stopped, stunned.

"What do you think you're… hey! I can't move!"

"Me neither!" said the second trapped scientist.

"I can't either!" said the third.

'Stomp', made the four, falling face first on the floor. Naruto stood right behind him, his fist still raised.

He took the time to bind the man in steel wires before moving to another captive scientist and punching his light out.

"What…what treachery is this? Isaribi! Stop him! Attack! Find out how he's stopping us to move and make it go away!" said the first scientist, his panic making him sound like a ten years old. The man at his side was knocked out clean too, and the last one conscious was now in a trashing state of panic. Unfortunately for him, he was unable to move a muscle. Isaribi walked to him, took a deep breath and delivered the hardest punch she could deliver, right in between the eyes. The man fell on his knee, and slid not too gently in the world of dreams. Naruto moved toward the victim and bound him in turn. Shikamaru stepped out of the shadows.

"That was even easier than binding Ino alone…with the four of them. I wonder how many actual ninjas we will meet."

Naruto got back up and nodded toward Isaribi.

"You did well," he simply said. He turned toward the Nara and lifted an eyebrow.

"Your shadows are…darker than I remember, Shikamaru."

"Can't let you be the only one progressing," said the Nara, shrugging.

They left their captives there, exploring the halls in hope to find Amachi, the real target.

* * *

Asuma punched another weak thug, wondering if there was anyone of a challenge at all. Choji was inflated and used his tank form on anything moving that bore no Leaf headband. He made their way through the main gate, and numerous other doors inside. Ino simply took advantage of the distraction to take control of a random ninja and attack the unsuspecting enemies in the back. When she was found out, she simply slapped an explosive note on 'herself' and went back to her body before the note detonated. Even their explosive tags were weak and barely able to knock one or two down.

Looking back at his sole female student, Asuma saw a look of frustration cross her face each time she regained control of her body. She looked at Choji, joyfully rolling around, flattening the enemies in his path. He would have to talk to her later.

'At this rate, this Amachi guy isn't going to show himself. He's going to try and escape. Let's hope he come across Naruto and Shikamaru's path,' the sensei of Team Ten thought.

* * *

The medic ninja Amachi, loyal servant of Orochimaru, the snake Sanin, was running the hell away from the main entrance. How did they found them? They hid the entrance as much as possible and nobody was allowed to have any exterior contact. Only Isaribi… no. The little tramp! How dare she betray them! After all he did for her!

He would have the occasion to ask her since she came by, running in his direction from the underwater entrance. She stopped dead in her track, assuming a fighting stance as soon as she saw him.

"So, I was right," said Amachi quietly, as if speaking to himself. "You led the enemy in, destroying the only home you ever had! Betraying the only one that ever cared for you! Even if you survive this day, you'll end up dead! Dead because you'll have no one around to tell you what to do! Dead without a purpose! Dead without me to make sure your monstrous state doesn't degenerate! You're a walking corpse! You committed suicide and will rot standing if those that used you to get in here don't kill you first!" Amachi ranted on, spitting angrily.

He meant to strike her, but a blond ninja left an overly thick shadow to stand behind Isaribi. He held her loosely from behind, his arm resting on her belly and his head on her shoulder.

"Anyone caring about you wouldn't say that, even faced with betrayal. I care about you and will never let you down. I will make sure you live. I will help you find a purpose. I will introduce you to people that will make sure you'll stay healthy. Let's beat this remnant of your past down, together," he told Isaribi calmly, but looking straight at Amachi.

Isaribi had her eyes closed, losing herself in Naruto's embrace. She nodded once and her face was the very picture of resolve when she opened her eyes. Amachi took two steps back, turned around and ran. He passed a corner just as the ninja engaged pursuit. Following him, they met an empty corridor.

"He took a secret passage! He's heading for the underwater exit! We have to go back!" Isaribi said, turning around. Shikamaru followed Naruto and Isaribi until they started to cross enemies on their way. Once they reached the last tunnel leading to the exit, Shikamaru stopped running and turned his back to them.

"Keep on, you two. I'll take care of the thugs and make sure you're not disturbed in you fight," he said, making hand signs.

"We're counting on you!" said Naruto, not pausing to argue.

Shikamaru finished his technique and sidestepped in the shadows. As a thug passed by, a few seconds later, a fist left the darkness to pick him up right on the cheek. The man fell, dazed, on the ground. The fist disappeared and the scared thug almost peed himself, hearing an evil chuckle from the shadows surrounding him.

* * *

Naruto, as soon as they left the shadow-user, picked Isaribi, bridal style, and dashed forward. Isaribi's breath caught in her throat at the pure speed the blond ran, using the walls to turn corners, never slowing down. She could only imagine how fast he could go, without her to slow him down. They got in the cave they came from just as Amachi finished changing into a man-fish and dove in the water.

"Like me… he has the same modification as I…but without any traces on him in his human form. He could have helped me, cured me…" she said in a daze as Naruto put her down.

"That's one more reason to catch the bastard and bring him back. He's going to be the one strapped on an operation table and we will uncover his dirty secrets directly from his body. Think of all the others he experimented on, who can't even pretend to a life like the one you've got."

Naruto's word hit a cord in Isaribi and they jumped in the water without delay. Naruto swam his fastest but so did Isaribi, quickly leaving him behind. She had to catch Amachi and delay him long enough for Naruto to beat him up! She had no illusions of winning alone.

Amachi turned his head toward her and grinned. He slowed down enough for her to eventually catch up, but still going faster than Naruto. Isaribi figured he would try to kill her first before using his superior speed to get at Naruto. Amachi had one big advantage over her: he was a ninja. He could use technique underwater while she could not. It didn't matter to her. She would buy enough time, be a big enough distraction so that Naruto could make his move, no matter the cost.

Naruto, from where he was, came to the same conclusion as her, but was not as optimistic. He knew only a few water jutsus and none of them would have effects underwater. He could only beat him in close range, a distance that Orochimaru's servant would avoid at all cost. If only he could get out of his sight long enough for Amachi to forget him…just a few seconds…

Isaribi swam toward Amachi and tried hitting him in the head. He dodged and she simply swam passed him, intent on trying to kick him on her way back. Unfortunately, he managed to grab a leg and started swinging her around.

'What is he, an idiot?' she thought, letting him do so.

As they were not on the ground, and their fighting was taking place nowhere near the shore of the river, there was nothing to slam her against. If he threw her away, she would just take control of her 'fall' and use it to speed up. The guy had the form but moved underwater like an amateur…

Amachi realized his mistake shortly and let her fly. He spotted Naruto, trying to get around him and getting nearer by the seconds. The medic nin made seals, making seaweeds grow around the blond and tying his leg together. One even started to choke him. The blond ninja started trashing in the water, losing precious oxygen. No matter how he seems to pull on them, he could not get free. It didn't help that he currently had no ground under his feet to get leverage.

Isaribi left the medic ninja at once to go help her new friend. Amachi smiled madly and found the perfect way to extract his revenge. He pulled a short sword from a hidden sheath and swam at all speed right behind Isaribi, intent on ending things now.

Naruto kept on trashing on his supposed bounds, having long cut them enough to break free with a simple jerk. He was still tied on the ankles, but that was a minor inconvenient. Isaribi had to get to him first so he could make his move. Amachi was almost in his trap and followed her, prepared to get them both as he was supposed to be helpless.

Bad luck wanted Isaribi to hide Amachi partly from his view. Naruto's right hand gathered rotating chakra and finished severing the vegetal that held to his wrist. He had to push the technique harder as the water made it more difficult to move. Isaribi stopped before him, surprised to see him free and by the blue ball he had in his hand. Her surprise was even more total when she looked down, looking at the tip of the sword that impaled her from behind. She could only look, surprised, at the blood lightly escaping her body.

Naruto jerked out of his bounds, ripping the ones at the ankles with brute strength. Amachi looked from behind Isaribi, a cruel smile on his lips. He didn't have the time to pursue his torture plans as Naruto was on him, thrusting his rasengan in the face of the fish ninja. He let go of the ball of energy that sent the man flying out of the water, pushed in the head by strong, drilling chakra.

Naruto didn't know if he was alive or not and didn't care at the moment. He grabbed Isaribi and pulled her to the shore, taking great care when pulling the sword out. He laid her down in the grass and opened the small medic kit he carried with him.

"Isa! Stay with me! Change back! Change back to your land form!" yelled Naruto, trying to get her passed the shock.

She recognized Naruto's voice and didn't have the strength to question him. She just obeyed. Her breathing got from impossible to labored and she coughed up some crimson red blood.

"Good, the changes were internal too. It probably repaired you ever so little and spread the damage at many smaller places instead than on one lethal wound. We need to find a medic nin to stabilize you," Naruto rambled on.

He looked at his options and didn't like them much. He bandaged her wound as much as he could and decided he would carry her to the Inn they were staying at. He shouted at one of the guards as he neared the city and told him to call the best doctor they had and to send him to them, ready to treat a sword wound. Reaching his room, he put her on his bed and stripped her out of her clothes. It was one of those occasions where embarrassment was but a thought and decency a forgotten concept. Naruto carefully put dry pants on her and pulled the cover up to her waist.

The doctor came in minutes later to see a young boy, clothes splattered with blood, caring for a paled faced young woman with the most unusual skin complexion.

"This girl was impaled by a short sword through her back. For reasons I can't reveal, the wound isn't straight from one side to the other. She changed states in order to slow the bleeding down. I did some first aid on her. Keep her alive until I get back with a medical ninja."

The man was about to protest about the dismissal of his own skills, but remembered they were talking about ninjas. Their world was shrouded in mystery. He got down to business as the boy left the room.

Naruto knew he couldn't do anything else to help Isaribi than to get competent help that might be far away right now. He dashed his way out of town and went back to where the battle took place. He found Amachi, barely alive, on the shore. His face was a mangled mess and Naruto felt a pang of regret seeing the state he put Amachi under his anger. It would be that harder to interrogate him, and there was no way now to force him to treat Isaribi. The man obviously lost a lot of blood, but it seemed to start to coagulate. Naruto pulled the groaning ninja from the shore. The man had the presence to change back in his human form. His face didn't get much better, but it allowed him to breath more easily by his mouth. Naruto forced a soldier pill in him.

"Swallow that and heal your head a bit," Naruto told him.

He had to repeat twice, and slowly, as the man probably suffered from shattered eardrums and had only one good eye left. An underwater rasengan used more power, but the momentum was harder to stop too. If it hadn't throw him out of the water, Naruto guessed there would be no more Amachi.

Shikamaru got out of the water at the moment Amachi managed to glue his hanging lips back on his face. Shika looked a bit sick at the mess the enemy leader became. He had to admit that, shadow master or not, the face Naruto had on right now scared the shit out of him too. Looking around, and failing to see the girl that was usually stuck after Naruto, he guessed the worst did happen.

"She's at the Inn, gravely wounded. I'm glad you're back as I have to do something. Tie this guy up and take him back to the base. We'll hand him to Ibiki once we get back to Konoha. I don't trust him to heal Isaribi."

Naruto took out a map he grabbed at the inn earlier, examined it for a few seconds and folded it back. He faced the river, looked far to the Interior Sea that could be seen downhill, about four miles away. He calculated an angle and faced it. Shikamaru's eyes widen when he felt the quantity of chakra building up, Naruto's contour blurring blue in a mist. Naruto crouched down like a track runner, the vein in his legs bulging out and his muscles showing with scary definition. The Nara managed to protect his eyes just in time to avoid being blinded as dust and dirt flew around, the spot Naruto was standing in now sporting a one feet deep crater.

Shikamaru looked toward the Interior Sea and saw a trail of dirt going straight for it. Then, a trail of water rose in the air as Naruto reached the water. The trail went even faster than on Earth, until it disappeared in the distance. Shikamaru sighed and threw a kunai right on Amachi pants' leg.

"Try and crawl away like that again and I'll finish Naruto's job. Got it?" he said, before whispering his favorite words.

* * *

Naruto's stare as he ran could have melted steel. What could anger more than an innocent's possible death? An innocent that had been tricked into committing crimes in exchange for drops of attention, only to be mortally wounded by her master, that's what. He wouldn't let her die. She had a chance to learn to live and be happy, a chance that was denied to him years ago. He wouldn't let anyone worthy of living die in sadness. Maybe that was why he saved Haku in the first place…

He still had a chance to help Isaribi. He just had to find a competent medic-nin and bring him back! He didn't trust Amachi to cure her. He would probably poison her from the inside, killing her to hide some of his secrets. Then, he'd shut his mouth for the glory of freaking Orochimaru.

Naruto knew no one could resist Ibiki's interrogation, but Amachi didn't know that. He might kill her just to spite them anyway. He had to find Rin. Kakashi said she went back home. Naruto's travel across the sea would make him cross many spots where she could have stopped with her floating home. Worst case scenario, he would ask for the direction at the same place he did the first time. They seemed to be fond of her and would know about her whereabouts.

Naruto ran at breakneck speed, all limits pulled but it was still not enough! The footing on the water is trickier as the substance you land on is liquid. At the speed he was going at, he didn't even bothered to concentrate to walk on it, but rather spread his chakra under his feet in order to have better propelling power. He had nothing to jump on to boost his speed either! Damn, damn, damn! He had to find an edge! Pushing chakra in his legs would only last for so long and he had to push even more down his feet to compensate his stand on the water! He may be a stamina monster, but even to him, a sprint at maximum speed of many, many hours long on the water could be dangerous.

Naruto noticeably slowed down, running from his strength alone, keeping from pushing additional chakra in his legs. This was so _slow_! He was almost crawling, dammit!

To an eventual observer, even a ninja one, his 'crawling' would have made their jaw drop and rub their eyes in disbelief. When your standard changes, so does your view on normality.

Naruto thought feverishly of a way to get faster before shutting his eyes hard and reopening them, his demeanor a lot calmer. He had to think out of the basket. If he could not get his footing better, if he could not get his muscles faster, he would change his environment to stop hindering his progress. He had to glide on the water, unopposed, to stop the very air to slow him down…

He blinked twice, a surprised look on his face. Of course! Why didn't he think about that before? Naruto concentrated hard on producing wind chakra. Instead of focusing it in his hand, he expelled it from all the tenketsu he could control. He forced it to stay close to him, like a bubble and, out of reflex, made it rotate all around him. The changes were instantaneous, so much he almost fell forward. Water dropped behind him, his passage not even disturbing the flow of air around him anymore. To the atmosphere, air pressure and wind, it was as if he wasn't there, and it was the same to him. His chakra cut him from the rest of the world. He felt as if he lost a good third of his weight.

Naruto tentatively pushed regular chakra in his leg, straining his concentration. If not of the exercise with the leaves, he would never be able to pull this off. His own vision, used to blurring speed, dimmed to a thin corridor in front of him. He breathed in and out regularly, synching the mixing of chakra and his elemental chakra on it.

* * *

Rin was having a drink at the Inn, people cheering all around. She was downing a huge beer jug under the fisherman's shoot of 'chug, chug, chug'! She put the empty jug down, saved from some foam and exhaled loudly. Everybody laughed as she fanned herself, a faint pink gracing her cheek. Most of them would look worse off than her, after a fourth mug.

"Life is great and so is your beer, barkeep!"

The Innkeeper laughed loudly at this declaration. Seeing the young girl come back so full of life was a blessing. That trip back home lifted some unspeakable horror from her mind, memories of her past. He filled her mug once again, amazed at the resistance she had to the stuff. How could he know that as a young, talented medic-nin, she could control the alcohol effect on her brain? Her reflexes in battles would be piss poor, but she kept all her clarity. She raised her mug in the air, looking passed it, her sight lost in a point long gone in time.

"A toast, to Obito Uchiha. My Chuunin teammate I lost back when I was fourteen, on a mission. He died rescuing me from enemies that kidnapped me. Today, I'm forever grateful to him for this chance at living he gave me."

The pub became dead silent. They all had a serious look now, seeing the tip of the iceberg that froze the life of this courageous girl for over a decade of her life.

"To Obito Uchiha!" said loudly the Innkeeper, lifting his own glass.

"To Obito Uchiha," chorused the rest of the room.

Rin took a sip from her beverage, leaving the mug almost full on the counter. Discussion resumed but died down as soon as the quiet voice of the medic ninja was heard. She was talking to her bartender friend, but didn't mind for everyone else to hear.

"He chose to disobey the team leader, you know. He said that the ones disobeying orders might be trash, but that those abandoning their friends were worse than trash. Kakashi told me so after… Kakashi lost an eye trying to save me too. In his last moment, Obito said he gave Kakashi the eye he took so much time to unlock. I operated them, there, on the field, as Obito was dying, crushed under a boulder. It was a gift to Kakashi, he said…for becoming a Jonin that day. "

Her words were confused now, her speech losing coherence as the sadness and alcohol took over. She dropped her head on the counter, her sobbing sobering the room of awkward fisherman. The Innkeeper patted her on her shoulder clumsily, trying to figure out what to do.

"There, there…It's going to be okay. It's…it's going to get better."

Rin took a napkin and blew her nose loudly. She wiped her eyes and took back some control over herself. A sad smile graced her lips.

"It's already getting better. I can finally mourn him! I can think about him! It might be painful as hell, but I'll be able to move on, someday. Already, I can remember the good times we had, the three of us on missions. That's more than I could hope for!"

She straightened back and turned toward the crowd.

"You know, Obito was always late on team meetings! He was such a klutz! Here's one of the best excuse he gave us! I swear it's all true! One morning, he said he had to help a poor lady cross the street but that a black cat crossed in front of them…"

* * *

It was long dark now, but a warm glow came from the windows of an Inn, and from people who didn't care for now that they had to wake up before the sun. Inside, Rin had goggles on her head and stood proudly in the middle of the room, telling off an imaginary sparring partner.

"You think you're always so cool but if I didn't have this sand going in my eyes despite my goggles, you wouldn't have landed a hand once on me! Less even the twenty-three other times!"

The crowd laughed as she put on a scarf across her head, her eyelid dropping half-way and taking a leisure pose.

"Make that twenty-four…but it's not surprising you didn't felt all those kick in the ass. It must be quite sore now…"

The fishermen had a theatre troop stop once but this was so much better! Rin took her scarf off and was about to put the goggle back on when she froze. People stopped laughing immediately, seeing her eyebrow burrow in concentration. She turned toward the door and slowly made her way out. She heard some kind of whistling…high pitched sound that got nearer by the seconds.

The Leaf medic-nin was followed by the curious crowd who started to hear the sound that drilled her ears right now. They felt uneasy, wondering what could get the strongest warrior they knew so suspicious…and worried. The noise echoed over the water of the Interior Sea, coming from a bright, blue moving blur on the water. It rushed at them so fast they started to fear it would collide with the Inn! At such speed, whatever it was, nothing would be left of the building!

Rin didn't move but pushed some chakra in her eyes, narrowing her eyesight further away. It proved unnecessary since the form was on them by now. Reaching the land, a few hundred meters away, the whistling noise stopped to be replaced by the grinding one of _something_ digging in the ground to slow down. The phenomenon stopped in a huge cloud of smoke. As it settled down, all that was left was a blond ninja that some of them recognized from his previous trip. He was breathing deeply, his hands shaking. Two trails started behind his feet only to end at the water line, over two hundred meters away, one foot deep all the way. He actually had to step out of them. He looked around, in a daze, looked back at the water line, at the docks, where Rin's house was and finally, turned toward the crowd. He scanned it for a good five seconds before spotting Rin looking at him in stupor. She got out of her shock and ran to him, fearing he would drop dead right there.

"Naruto-kun! What's happening? What was that?" she asked in quick succession, before biting her lips. It wasn't smart to hurl that many questions at an exhausted, confused person. Naruto was swaying back and forth now and she guessed what was coming. She grabbed him as he fell forward and hauled him on her shoulder. She turned toward the fishermen, an apologizing smile on her face.

"Sorry gentlemen! Duty call!"

She realized late that Naruto was too light to have his weight on, and was grateful for it. She ran to her home, where all her medical supply resided.

"Ha! That's ninja life for you!" said one of the villagers. The comment produced a few chuckles and the drinkers decided to call it a night.

* * *

Knowing the kind of prowess the blond was able off, and of his resident fox-bijuu, Rin wasn't worried about Naruto too much. Still, she worked to get him awake and lucid as soon as possible. The guy once crossed a part of the Sea in search for her with weight on his clothes just to put the mind of his sensei, and hers to peace, but it lacked the sense of urgency this manoeuvre had.

She used medical jutsu to heal the chakra burns and irritations he had all over his body. It looked like he strained the use of his tenketsus and had spiral looking cuts on his skin over each and every one of them. She could map his chakra circulatory system as well as a Hyuuga without the use of a Byakugan.

Running a few more diagnostics, she felt astonishment as her mind tried to get around a single fact: even if one have to mix the chakra when he needs it, he need to actually have the existing spiritual and physical energy. You can't truly see those two but you can guess the portion left in someone with some jutsu that prod differential rates of chakra production all over the body. This guy burned himself in the use of some very potent, chakra consuming and unrefined technique for an extended period of time and, despite using more than half his reserve, he was far from depleted.

She pulled out an IV needle and plugged him to some simple nutriment and a slow-activating, liquid version of the soldier pill. She waited for most of an hour, massaging his feet, her hand glowing a soothing green. Then, she used strong salt and passed it under his nose. His reaction was instantaneous. He sneezed hard, battered away the offensive smell and opened his sapphire blue eyes. This time, they were as clear as a morning sky, unlike the veil look he had when getting to her. He looked around and relaxed in recognition of the place. Naruto put a hand on his face and groaned slightly at the sudden awakening.

"Okay. I guess I managed to find you before passing out. My luck hasn't run out yet! How much time was I unconscious?" he asked, worried he might have lost too much time.

"About an hour, right after you found me. I did my best to wake you up early," she said, pointing to the needle in his arm. He looked at the small tube and the liquid trickling in his vein.

"What is this?" he asked.

"Liquid soldier pills. Slower to act but the drawback is lessened too. I got the idea from a clan in Konoha who had special recipes."

"If you speed up its diffusion, I'll replenish my reserve faster, will I?" he asked without a pause.

"Yes. It can't have a result higher than a normal soldier pill, except if you tear the bag open and drown its content in two gulps. That could have you dying in a mild chakra explosion. Very gory."

"Experienced?" asked Naruto, raising an eyebrow.

"Spiked the drink of a nosey Mist ninja with it," she acknowledged.

Naruto winced at the image. He turned the switch controlling the liquid to speed it up and turned toward Rin, his business face on.

"I'm currently on a mission with Asuma-sensei and his team. We invested an enemy compound under Orochimaru's jurisdiction thanks to the help of one of their unwilling experiment subject. Isaribi-chan was brainwashed to believe she was a monster that everyone hated and that only Amachi, the medic-nin in charge of her, would give her the time of the day. In exchange for his 'caring', she had to sunk and sack transport ships thanks to her genetic enhancement. In the battle following the possession of their base, Amachi impaled her with a katana-type of sword. It's a fatal wound, even I know that. She changed back in her land form in order to slow down her internal bleeding and I left her with the best of what the city could offer in doctor. She might be on borrowed time. I need a competent medic nin I can trust."

Rin nodded. She got up, opened a cabinet and looked at the vials inside. She took a backpack and filled it with bandages, potions, pills, powder and medical tools that Naruto couldn't understand to imagine the use.

"You know I can't go nearly as fast as you just did, Naruto-kun," she stated.

"I'll carry you," he answered.

"I guessed you'd say that. You have insane recovery abilities. We'll leave in an hour. Let me prepare you for the trip," she said, taking a few vials to Naruto. "Adrenalin, distillated soldier pills and some bag of crushed ice," she said, handling him the stuff.

"Crushed ice?"

"To cool your head down. You're going to be a sweaty mass once we get there, believe me."

* * *

It was Ino's time to watch on Isaribi. She looked at the ash-colored face with sadness. She would not last long. No matter how great Naruto was, the closest friendly nin group was days away. They were weeks away of travel from Konoha, in another elemental country! It was almost a full day since he left, now. She didn't want to know how bad he would feel when he would realize he can't make it on time.

She sighed again until she started hearing some kind of…whistling. She got up and went to the windows. It came from the sea, at large, but couldn't point out where, the sun reflecting on it too brightly. Then it stopped in an explosion of sand and dust at the water line. It was going straight for the city! The cloud grew in a full storm and she closed the windows to stop the dust from getting to them. A rock grinding noise was heard and the ground under the Inn shook a bit. The ruckus finally died down right as it reached them.

"What the hell was that?" asked Ino, not expecting an answer but getting one nonetheless.

"Na…ruto…." mumbled Isaribi in her delirious sleep.

Ino turned toward her, the possibility dawning on her. She got out of the room and was about to climb down the stairs when an unknown ninja, wearing the Leaf headband, climbed them hurriedly.

"Where is the patient?" she asked, not bothering with presentations.

Ino pointed Naruto's room and the pretty medic nin went inside without another word. Ino followed her, Isaribi being her charge for now. The woman was already sitting on the edge of the bed, using a medical jutsu with a hand and opening a bag with the other.

"Do you need any help?" she asked tentatively, not wanting to bother her.

"Not for the moment. You all did good keeping her alive. I'll need all of my concentration now," she answered, not lifting an eye from her patient.

"Okay…I'll tell the others that," almost whispered Ino, closing the door.

She went downstairs to find an exhausted Naruto. Shikamaru, Asuma and Choji helped him on a chair as he pulled an I.V. needle from his arm. Despite his tiredness, he seemed alert and aware of his surroundings. Seeing the question marks in her eyes, he explained, already yawning.

"Adrenalin and modified soldier pills. Despite my current state, I'm probably going to physically shut down in less than two minutes."

Choji's eyes opened wide and Shikamaru raised his eyes and arms to the sky, taking it as witness to Naruto's troublesome nature. Asuma simply shook his head, smiling.

"The mission finished about twenty hours ago, Naruto. I understand your desire to help and congratulate you on your success to making it to the other side of the Interior Sea and back in that time…"

Several gasps were heard from the two Genins, and a groan from the remaining Chuunin.

"…but how should we explain this?" he asked, clearly amused. "Yes, I recognized Rin-san, which is why I know where you went."

Naruto yawned again and guessed he was running out of conscious time. Anyway, he knew he wasn't in real trouble. Asuma just humored him, fishing for his excuse as to why he did it in the first place. They had a report to fill when they got back after all!

"Well, as you said yourself, the mission was no longer in jeopardy. The shipment was saved, the tool of the attack switched to our side. Amachi was found and arrested and the remaining of the previously stolen cargo at our disposal. Choji, Ino and yourself seemed to be doing well on your end, if the lack of escaping ninjas was any indication. I figured that when Shikamaru left the complex to see how I was doing on my end. Isaribi, as one of Orochimaru's experiment, have to be examined to learn of his methods and objectives. As an innocent victim from a former Leaf ninja, it is also our responsibility to help her in any way at our disposal. I'm sure the current Hokages, especially Tsunade-hime who's a medic-nin herself, are going to agree with me."

Naruto let his back rest against his chair, his muscles relaxing from the lack of adrenaline. He closed his eyes as if blinking, but didn't open them back. His breathing deepened and his face rested with an air of satisfaction. He was asleep, and probably skipped the initial steps to fall in the deepest level of sleep.

Ino cooed a little, finding it utterly cute. Shikamaru snorted.

"Well, if you find him that cute, I'll give you the task to put him to bed. Tuck him in tight!" he said.

* * *

Asuma, Choji, Ino and Shikamaru helped the local to move the lost ships' cargo still in the hidden compound. They searched the place for any clues regarding Orochimaru's current location but found none. Still, it was the first time they could salvage anything from any of the Snake's lairs, except for the one he had back in Konoha, right before he departed. They terminated inhumane experiments and freed some prisoners after interrogation. They gathered a lot of files and some biochemical samples to show the Hokage. They moved it all to their H.Q. and packed their things.

Rin spent many hours at Isaribi's side until she declared her out of danger. She told Asuma it would take at least a week before she'd be able to leave her bed. She told to Naruto dismissively, while he was in his own bed, that she could be carried in about four days.

Naruto himself had been ordered to stick to his bed for at least the next two days.

"You are so troublesome, you knew that?" sighed Shikamaru, hearing that.

"From your perspective, life look like one big, annoying problem," grinned Naruto. "You should learn to make with what life throws at you. One day, you'll have no trouble at all, in retirement, and when watching the sky, no cloud will come to block the sun. What will you do then?"

Shikamaru's was taken aback by Naruto's philosophy. He ended up smiling, rubbing the back of his head.

"I guess you're right. Troublesome doesn't necessarily mean…boring," he admitted.

"That's the spirit! Go get them!" Naruto cheered him.

Shikamaru refrained to ask who he was supposed to get. Best to leave Naruto to his world. Team Asuma decided to leave early and to let Naruto get back on his own with Isaribi. They planned on making a chained Amachi carry all he could, preventing him from escaping at the same time. Right before leaving, Ino went to see Naruto, alone, in his room. Getting in quietly, she closed the door behind her. Naruto opened an eye, curious about what she wanted from him.

"Hi there, Ino-chan. Want a kiss good-bye?" he teased.

The tall blonde shook her head and went to Naruto's bedside. She bent forward in a very sexy pose, and kissed him on the cheek. It seemed all so natural to her…

"I planned on doing it anyway," she admitted, barely embarrassed. "What you did for that girl was impressive and… just sweet doesn't even start to cover it. You're a good man, Naruto," she said, taking a chair.

"Yeah, I know!" said Naruto, without an ounce of modesty. Ino snorted very un-lady like.

"I would normally say 'don't let it go to your head' but you're a long lost cause. Now, let's get to the heart of why I came to see you."

"You want to have some blond-to-blonde advice?" asked Naruto, wiggling his eyebrow.

"Something like that," said Ino, lifting up her chin. She looked at him very seriously.

"I want you to guide my training, Naruto. I'm in a crashing course right now. My family jutsu can't be relied on solely to achieve something. It's…not complete, or too final in its purpose. It's restraining and the thing is: I don't know how to make it evolve! Asuma-sensei is a great teacher but I feel that even he doesn't know what to do with me. I watched Ten-Ten fight at the Chuunin exam. I saw the changes in Sakura. Ask whatever you want of me but please, train me," she asked, taking one of Naruto's hand in both of hers.

Naruto looked at her seriously before looking around, especially out of the open window.

"What are you doing?" asked Ino at the strange reaction.

"Just checking that a certain Hermit didn't heard that one. Okay. My training schedule is already full but I'll try to make some room for you on my time off. First thing: we're going on a date when we get back in Konoha," he finished with a grin.

Ino blushed and straightened back hearing him state it, instead of asking. She hoped he wasn't taking what she said _too_ seriously…

"Why for?" she asked.

"Do you think I will do this for free? You'd better show me a great time! Oh, and don't tell Ten-Ten-chan, I still owe her a date for the help I already gave her with her training!"

Ino was about to shout she wasn't some kind of easy bimbo but realized he never implied anything like that. He was totally honest with his intention of going on a date with Ten-Ten, and that both her and Ten-Ten's dates were in exchange of training services. She grinned. She'd show him the best, romantic and sexiest date he ever could dream of! Then he would have to put the equivalent efforts in her training…

"Okay. You'd better rest well because the Saturday in three weeks time, you're coming to pick me up at my house at eight, in yukata."

Naruto chuckled, rubbing his hands together as if planning some perverted stuff. Ino rolled her eyes but couldn't help to put an extra sway in her hips as she left Naruto's room. The blond Chuunin fell back down on his bed, thanking his lucky star for putting so many pretty girls in his way. Talking about pretty girls…

Naruto listened carefully before throwing back the cover from over him. He took both his pillows and rolled them in his blanket. He took the light bundle under his arm and walked unsteadily to the door. Opening it, he found the frame partially filled with a frowning medic nin. Naruto put a hand behind his head and laughed nervously.

"Could you tell me just where you were going?" asked Rin seriously.

"I was getting lonely," he said, looking down and to the side, but smirking.

He was looking both cute and devious. Rin could not help a small smile to flash on her lips, and rubbed a hand on her face. Before she could object, Naruto played his major card.

"I bet Isaribi-chan is bored and worried too, not having seen me since the accident at the river, and surrounded by strangers…" he said quietly.

Rin growled before stomping away.

"Why don't you just go and do what you want, don't you? I'm done here! Just make sure she takes her medication!" she said, her back to him.

"Thank you, onee-san! I'll tell sensei you send your naughtiest salutations!"

Rin stumbled hearing that, holding the railing of the stairs not to fall. She shouted a few insults before hastily retreating, afraid to give more ground to Naruto to tease her. Naruto chuckled some more and wobbled all the way to Isaribi's room, formerly his own. The innkeeper must be doing golden business these days!

Under Isaribi's very awake stare, he opened the door and closed it behind him. Humming to himself, he opened a closet and managed to get a spare futon out. He put his blanket and pillow on it and made himself comfortable. Finally lying back on it, he sighed, exhausted. His legs had more than enough exercise for the day. He turned his head toward Isaribi who looked at him from the edge of her bed.

"So...what's up?"

* * *

Isaribi never thought she could laugh so much. Naruto was such a clown when he wanted! He spoke of his life and training with his brother and the problems they had with the 'fangirls' at the ninja Academy. Finding out some of their abilities made her feel a lot less like a monster. Asking Naruto about his parents and siblings, since he never mentioned them, got her an unexpected answer.

"I rather not talk about that right now. Maybe some other times…" he said, his smile becoming a lot more rigid. He stayed silent a while before covering himself whole, from head to toe, with his blanket. Isaribi feared she just hurt or angered him, until the blanket started to wave. It started slowly, as if there was some blowing wind under it. Then it lifted from Naruto, higher and higher, passed the level of her mattress and reached the ceiling. She felt the wind moving the air in the whole room. Naruto's sleeping attire, whole with a hat that seemed to bit his head, was what waved the most. Naruto had his hand crossed behind his head and looked at the blanket.

"Neat, isn't it? It's a new trick I learned when I went to fetch Rin. It opens up a lot of opportunity."

Isaribi looked at the floating blanket getting back down.

"Can you keep it up for a few more seconds?" she suddenly asked.

Naruto raised an eyebrow but complied. Isaribi crawled out of her bed to lay beside Naruto, wincing lightly now and then.

"Okay, you can let it drop," she said, blushing, cuddling against him.

Naruto smiled, got an arm around the girl searching for some human comfort, and let the cover drop over them. Yes, it definitely opened a lot of opportunities.

* * *

**That's more like my Naruto! I'll make Jiraiya look like a shy virgin before all of this is over!**


End file.
